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SAVONAROLA 

HIS LIFE AND TIMES 



SAVONAROLA 



"$1^ Uit attD Cfmejj 



BY 



y 



WILLIAM CLARK, M.A., LL.D. 

PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN TRINITY COLLEGE, TORONTO 





CHICAGO 

A. C. McCLURG AND COMPANY 

1890 






Copyright, 

By a. C. McClurg and Co. 

A.D. i8qo. 



PREFACE. 



The life and character of Savonarola have been rightly 
supposed to present great difficulties to the historian. From 
the day of his death — nay, more, from the day of his power 
in Florence — up to our own times, opinions the most diverse 
have been entertained respecting his character, his motives, 
his conduct. While his enemies have denounced him as a 
rebel against the sovereign Pontiff — in later times they 
have hardly dared to call him a heretic — and as a dis- 
turber of the commonwealth, his followers and admirers 
have regarded him as a saint and a hero, and have vene- 
rated his memory as that of a martyr. 

The supporters of despotism, ecclesiastical and civil, 
have cherished a feeling of bitter enmity against the man 
who had such an ardent love of liberty ; and they have 
been joined by the prophets of scepticism, who have had 
nothing but contempt and hatred for one who was so pow- 
erful a witness for religion and for God. 

According to the sceptic Bayle, he was a ridiculous and 
base impostor, who richly deserved the fate that befell him. 
According to Roscoe, who found it difficult to believe any- 
thing good of one who was so consistent and steadfast an 
opponent of his idolized Medici, he was an arrogant and 
ambitious priest, half impostor and half fanatic. The errors 
of Roscoe were partly traditional, partly depended upon his 
defective point of view, and partly arose from his being 



6 PREFACE. 

unacquainted with many of the original documents which 
throw light upon the age of which he wrote. 

It was only quite lately that an attempt was made to re- 
write the history of Savonarola and his times on the basis 
of contemporary documents and the testimony of contem- 
porary writers. Rudelbach was the first who seriously 
undertook this work, and he accomplished his task with 
German industry and thoroughness. Although he has con- 
siderably detracted from the value of his book by his persis- 
tent attempt to prove that Savonarola was a Protestant, all 
subsequent writers are greatly indebted to his researches. 

Rudelbach's work was published in 1835, and was suc- 
ceeded in 1836 by that of his countryman, Meier, who also 
brought to light documents and facts which had been pre- 
viously unknown. This writer also marred his work by 
endeavoring to prove that Savonarola held the doctrines of 
Luther. In spite of this, I have been greatly indebted to 
him and his predecessor. 

The next important life of Savonarola was written by 
M. Perrens, an eminent authority on Florentine history, 
and published in 1853. This writer had the advantage of 
using the materials collected by the Padre Marchese, who 
had taken a deep interest in the life of Savonarola, and 
belonged to his own order.^ It cannot be denied that 
Perrens made diligent use of these materials and of other 
documents which he found at Florence. He made himself 
thoroughly acquainted with his subject, and he produced a 
well-written and readable book ; still, there is a want of con- 
sistency in his views of Savonarola's character and history 
which renders his work in many respects unsatisfactory.^ 

^ He edited some of the unpublished letters of Savonarola, 
and published a history of the convent of St. Mark's, and other 
works bearing on the same subject. 

2 It is the more necessary to note this, since Dean Milman's 
article in the Quarterly Review, subsequently republished among 
his miscellaneous works, has given currency, among readers of 
English, to the view of M. Perrens. 



PREFACE. 7 

The life of Perrens was, however, the best that had been 
written until Professor Villari published his " History of 
Girolamo Savonarola and his Times." ^ Whether we con- 
sider the fulness of his researches, or the true historical 
spirit in which Villari composed his book, it must be 
allowed that he has done the work almost as well as it can 
be done. As a book for Itahans and for those who take 
an interest in the philosophical doctrines of Savonarola, it 
can hardly ever be excelled, and can never be entirely set 
aside. 

To Signor Villari I owe much more than to any other 
writer, and I have hardly ever ventured to differ from him 
without much consideration. It will be evident, however, 
to careful readers that I have followed him in no servile 
spirit. I have done my best to understand the history and 
character of the man whom I have undertaken to describe, 
and I have endeavored to tell the story simply and plainly, 
as I have myself been able to understand it. 

Since the fruits of my study of the life of Savonarola 
were first published, several contributions to the subject of 
considerable importance have appeared. First and chief of 
these is an essay on Savonarola in a volume of historico- 
biographical studies by the great German historian Ranke 
(Leipzig, 1877). Next comes a very interesting study by 
Pere Bayonne (Paris, 1879), a member of the same order 
and an enthusiastic admirer of Savonarola. Finally, Pro- 
fessor Villari has put forth a carefully revised and almost 
rewritten edition of his great Life (Florence, 1888), in 
which he has made a few corrections and alterations, some 
of them based upon documents previously unknown. 

I have been careful to consult all those modern writers 
from whom I expected to obtain help for my work, and 
I have made ample acknowledgment of my obligations 

^ La Storia di Girolamo Savonarola e de' suoi tempi, narrata 
da Pasquale Villari, con 1' aiuto di nuovi documenti. Firenze : 
Le Monnier, vol. i. 1859 ; vol. ii. 1861. 



8 PREFACE. 

wherever I was conscious of them. Sometimes I have 
thought it better to quote their very words. But it must 
not be supposed that I have obtained my information gen- 
erally at second hand. I have studied all the principal ori- 
ginal sources, and have commonly told the story in their 
language. For the sake of any who may care to follow me 
in these studies, I may mention the Lives of Giovan Fran- 
cesco Pico della Mirandola and Burlamacchi, the work of 
Barsanti, and the " Cedrus Libani " of Frk Benedetto, pub- 
lished in the splendid Italian " Archivio Storico." I should 
add that I have been much indebted to the various works 
of Padre Marchese, published in the same collection. 

Of the works of Savonarola I have carefully studied the 
"Compendium Revelationum," the "Trionfo della Croce," 
and many of his sermons and smaller works, as well as his 
poems. I have also used the works of Machiavelli, Guic- 
ciardini, and Sismondi ; and among later works, Capponi's 
" Storia della Repubblica di Firenze " and Von Reumont's 
" Lorenzo de' Medici." 

WILLIAM CLARK. 

Trinity College, Toronto. 
Midsummer, 1890. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Italy in the Fifteenth Century . . ii 

II. Savonarola's Birth and Early Years 30 

III. Monastic Life at Bologna .... 47 

IV. The Brother of St. Mark's .... 61 
V. Florence and the Medici 79 

VI. The Prior of St. Mark's and Lorenzo 

the Magnificent loi 

VII. The Preacher and Piero de' Medici 118 

VIII. Monastic Reform 131 

IX. The French in Italy 147 

X. Revolution 172 

XL Reformation of Manners 191 

XI I. Divisions 208 

XIII. The Departure of the French . . 219 

XIV. Pope Alexander VT, and Savonarola 230 
XV. The Burning of the "Vanities" . . 259 

XVI. Treason 273 

XVII. Renewed Conflict with Rome . . . 297 

XVIII. The Ordeal by Fire 308 

XIX. Martyrdom ." 321 



SAVONAROLA. 



CHAPTER I. 

ITALY IN THE FIFfEENTH CENTURY. 

In order to understand the character and work of a 
man who belonged so entirely to his own age as Savo- 
narola, it will be necessary to attempt some estimate, 
however slight and imperfect, of the times in which he 
lived. We must try to understand something of the 
state of the Roman Empire, of which Italy was, in the- 
ory at least, the centre ; of the condition of the Papacy, 
the great fountain of authority in the Western Church ; 
of the religious orders ; of the intellectual and moral 
condition of the people at large. 

Although it would be quite impossible to understand 
the course of Florentine history, with its fierce struggles 
between Guelfs and Ghibellines, apart from the history 
of the Empire, these struggles had long ceased before 
the age of Savonarola. They had, indeed, left behind 
them political parties which had sprung out of them, 
and party feelings whose roots were buried deep in those 
ancient animosities ; but as a practical question, the 
state of the Empire hardly concerns the student of 
ItaHan ecclesiastical history in the fifteenth century. 
The Empire was at its lowest point, and the Papacy at 



12 SAVONAROLA. 

its highest. Frederick III. was Emperor and Nicholas 
V. was Pope when Savonarola was born. "In Frede- 
rick the Third's reign," says Dr. Bryce/ " the Empire 
sank to its lowest point. It had shot forth a fitful gleam 
under Sigismund, who, in convoking and presiding over 
the Council of Constance, had revived one of the high. 
est functions of his predecessors. . . . Never afterwards 
was he [the Emperor], in the eyes of Europe, anything 
more than a German monarch." It was just the reverse 
with the Papacy. " The Pontificate of Nicholas V.," 
says Dean Milman,'^ " is the culminating point of Latin 
Christianity." 

Slowly, gradually, surely, the change had taken place. 
The time had long gone by when men had dreamed of a 
state of things in which the world should be governed by 
two masters acting in harmony, the Emperor and the 
Pope. The theory of Dante, born a Guelf, but forced 
by the violence of the papal party into the GhibeUine 
ranks, was a beautiful one, but it could not be worked. 
Even when the faith of the Church was the religion of 
the Empire, it became a hopeless task to reconcile the 
claims of the master of the world with those of the Vicar 
of Christ. That the Pope should hold his secular pos- 
sessions of the Emperor as his suzerain ; that the Em- 
peror should receive his authority from the Head of the 
Church, — through His Vicar, by whom he was anointed 
and crowned, — all this might seem reasonable, natural, 

1 The Holy Roman Empire, ch. xvii. This work can hardly 
be too highly recommended to the student of mediaeval his- 
tory. A knowledge of its subject is of the greatest necessity 
for such ; and it is difficult to mention a work from which it 
could more easily and effectually be obtained. 

2 Latin Christianity, bk. xiii. ch. xvii. 



ITALY IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 13 

simple in theory ; but innumerable complications arose 
in working it out. The difficulty of serving two masters 
continually presented itself; and men drifted into the 
party of the Guelfs or into that of the Ghibellines, not 
only from the intelligible reason that they sided with the 
papal party on the one hand, or with the Imperialists on 
the other, but from multitudes of other reasons, arising 
out of local position and family or national history. To 
us, for instance, it seems strange to find the most strenu- 
ous supporters of the Papacy among the strongest re- 
publicans ; but our surprise vanishes when we remem- 
ber that the aristocratic party was headed by those great 
nobles who derived their chief authority from the Em- 
peror, and were devoted to the support of his claims. 

It would be out of place to sketch here, even in bar- 
est outline, the rise of the papal power, and therefore 
we must be contented merely to indicate those points 
which will render our narrative intelligible. The power 
of the Roman Bishop had grown up by slow degrees, 
and had derived its strength from a variety of elements. 
It would be a mistake to fasten upon any one cause as 
sufficient to account for the almost absolute dominion 
which the Bishop of Rome came to exercise over the 
Western Church. 

It was not only his position in the metropolis of the 
world-empire, — although this went for much, — it was not 
simply the early fable that the Pope was the successor 
of Saint Peter, that gave him his authority. This was an 
effect quite as much as a cause of his predominance. 
The New Testament knows nothing of Saint Peter as 
the founder of the Church of Rome. When he is men- 
tioned in this connection by Irenaeus, it is only as asso- 
ciated on equal terms with Saint Paul. 



14 SAVONAROLA. 

But there were other causes at work. The piety, or- 
thodoxy, learning, and ability of a series of Pontiffs who 
adorned that chair in the earliest days contributed to 
strengthen the influence and confirm the power which 
seemed naturally to belong to the Bishop of the Mother 
City, and to engender the idea that this was the Mother 
Church.^ Perhaps it must be added that a strong cen- 
tral ecclesiastical power was almost a necessity in the 
ages through which the Church had to pass from Con- 
stantine to Charles the Great, and from his days to 
those of another Charles, who witnessed the beginning 
of the great and widespread revolt against the papal 
power. We have said nothing of the false decretals. 
Although they did undoubtedly lend support to the 
papal theory in its days of advance and development, 
it must yet be confessed that the main points of that 
theory were set forth and conceded before those famous 
documents were promulgated.^ 

Whether a sagacious anticipation of the dangers in- 
herent in the secular character which began to be asso- 

1 Dr. Freeman remarks : " From the time o£ Constantine on- 
wards, the divisions of the Empire and the constant absence of 
the Emperors from Rome had greatly increased the power of the 
Popes. They had not, like the Patriarchs of Constantinople, a 
superior always at hand. Charles the Great had fully asserted 
the imperial power over the Church: but after his Empire 
broke up, the power of the Popes grew again. It was checked 
only by their own wickedness and their divisions among them- 
selves, which kings like Otto the Great and Henry the Third 
had to step in and put an end to" (General Sketch of Euro- 
pean History, ix. 2), 

2 The first steps in the progress of papal power are strikingly 
illustrated in Dr, Lightfoot's appendix to his edition of Saint 
Clement's Epistles, pp. 252 ff. On the general subject, cf. Papal 
Claims (London and New York), 



ITALY IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 15 

ciated with the spiritual power of the Papacy would 
have led to their being averted, we cannot tell. Hu- 
manly speaking, it is difficult to imagine, as we trace 
the course of history, that the Popedom could have 
been very different from what it v^'as. Be this as it 
may, it seems inevitable that it should have become a 
secular power, and equally so that its spiritual charac- 
ter, the world being what it is, should have suffered from 
the connection. 

The deterioration is, in fact, undeniable. As we fol- 
low the solemn and impressive history from Pontiff to 
Pontiff, from age to age, we become aware that the 
voice of the Vicar of Christ no longer speaks in the pure 
tones of a Leo or a Gregory j the world also has its 
prophet on the throne of Peter, and the spirit of the 
world is blended, in a combination sometimes blasphe- 
mous, sometimes touching upon the ludicrous, with the 
higher spirit of the kingdom. The first Bishop of Chris- 
tendom is serving two masters. 

The moral deterioration of the Roman See is a simple 
fact of history. It was not rapid, and there were breaks 
and suspensions and recoils in its course ; but it was, on 
the whole, gradual and certain. We mark it, perhaps, 
most in the period which elapsed between the beginning 
of the fourteenth century and the era of the Reforma- 
tion. The evil, however, was at work long before this 
time. In the struggles between the great Popes, like 
Gregory VII. (Hildebrand), and the great Emperors, 
like Henry IV., there was of necessity a secularizing of 
the spirit of the ecclesiastical power, far more than a spir- 
ituahzing of the secular ; and the Popes were quite as 
much the victims as they were the causes of the circum- 
stances in which they found themselves. 



1 6 SAVONAROLA. 

John of Salisbury, almost exactly a century later than 
Gregory VII., — he died in 1180, — tells us that when 
asked by his friend Hadrian IV. what people said of 
him and of the Roman Church, he repUed : — 

" Many people say that the Roman Church, which is the 
mother of all other Churches, shows herself to other 
Churches, not as a mother, but as a stepmother. ' Scribes 
and Pharisees sit upon her seat, who bind heavy burdens 
and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoul- 
ders ; but they themselves will not move them with one 
of their fingers.' They lord it over God's heritage, and 
do not walk in the way of life, as ensamples to the flock. 
They heap up precious things, and load their tables with 
gold and silver. . . . With them godliness is practised for 
the sake of gain, not for the dissemination of the truth. 
... To many even the Roman Bishop has become un- 
bearable ; and people complain that while the churches 
which were built by the devotion of our fathers are fall- 
ing to ruin, and while the altars are deserted, he is going 
about in purple and gold. The palaces of the priests are 
resplendent, while the Church of Christ is left polluted 
and uncared for. ... In my judgment," he added, *' so 
long as they go this way, the scourge of the Lord will 
never depart from them." 

This was towards the end of the twelfth century ; but 
about a century later began a period which tended still 
further to destroy the better features of the papal power. 
This was the famous Babylonish Captivity, — the residence 
of the Popes for a period of seventy years (1305-1376) 
at Avignon in France. One of its evil results was seen 
in the schism which immediately followed, and lasted for 
about half the time of the Captivity, — until the Council 
of Constance, when Martin V. was raised to the papal 



ITALY IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 17 

throne in 141 7, and was finally accepted by the whole 
Western Church. 

When Milman speaks of the Pontificate of Nicholas V. 
as "the culminating point of Latin Christianity," he does 
not ignore the facts and circumstances which had long 
been at work to undermine the monarchy of Hildebrand. 
"The papal power," he says, "had long reached its ze- 
nith. From Innocent III. (i 198-12 16) to Boniface VIII, 
(i 294-1303) it had begun its decline." That is to say, 
from near the time of John of Salisbury to the beginning 
of the period of the papal residence at Avignon, the 
power of the Pope relatively to that of the secular rulers 
began to decline ; and the Captivity and the schism al- 
most annihilated any real authority that still remained in 
his hands. But the Pope as the representative of the 
Church — perhaps, rather, the Church presided over by 
the Pope — was supreme in the middle of the fifteenth 
century. It had burned Huss and Jerome of Prague, 
and it seemed at peace and irresistible. This was the 
appearance of things as it would strike the eye of a 
statesman. But there were unseen forces at work which 
we, at least, cannot overlook. An age which endured 
a Papacy in virtual subjection to the French Crown for 
the best part of a century, another which could tolerate 
the worse scandal of rival Popes for more than a whole 
generation, must have fallen from the faith, as well as 
the order, of earlier times. 

" The transfer of the papal throne from Rome to Avignon 
for a space of seventy years, during the early part of the 
fourteenth century, entailed enormous evils on Europe, and 
on the estates of the Church in particular. It was a delib- 
erate renunciation by the Popes of their most sacred duties 
as Bishops of Rome and as temporal sovereigns. While 

2 



1 8 SAVONAROLA. 

they passed their days in epicurean ease and luxury on the 
banks of the Rhone, the patrimony of the Church was trod- 
den down by lawless barons and contending factions, and, 
as was natural in such a state of things, the people, both 
clerical and lay, equally despised the laws of God and of 
man. Venality, impurity, and licentiousness pervaded the 
papal court, and had reached such a pitch at the time that 
Petrarch was a resident at or near Avignon that he points 
to the Romish court there, in his epistles sifie tihilo and in 
three of his sonnets, as the Western Babylon, a sink of 
iniquity, a very hell upon earth." ^ 

It would be absurd to charge the Popes with the 
whole guilt of the corruption of the fifteenth century. 
If they were in part the causes, they were also in part 
only the indications, of a state of things against which 
some of them struggled hard, but which for the most 
part, they were powerless to amend. It is by no means 
true that the Popes of this time were all bad men ; but 
unfortunately some of the best seemed the least fitted 
for the evil times on which they had fallen. Nicholas V.,'^ 

1 Harford's Life of Michael Angelo, vol. i. ch. viii. pt. i., 
where the references will be found. 

2 In Nicholas V., in three short years, the Pope had become 
again a great Italian potentate. . . . Nicholas V. laid the founda- 
tion of his power not so much in the strength of the Roman See 
as a temporal sovereignty as in the admiration and gratitude of 
Italy, which was rapidly reported over the whole of Christendom. 
. . . The famous architect Leo Albert! describes the unexampled 
prosperity under Nicholas, for which the conspirators would have 
made that cruel return. " The whole of Latium was at peace. . . . 
The domain of the Church was in a high state of cultivation ; the 
city had become a city of gold through the jubilee ; the dignity of 
the citizens was respected; all reasonable petitions were granted 
at once by the Pontiff." — Milman : Latin Christianity (2d ed. ), 
vi. 169. 



ITALY IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 19 

one of the best of Popes, had his soul saddened, his 
heart ahnost broken, by rebeUion breaking out among 
his ungrateful Roman subjects. 

To him succeeded Pius II. (1458-1464), the fa- 
mous yEneas Sylvius, who, although he was not a man 
of the same depth and spirituality as his predecessor, 
would yet, by the elevation of his mind, the purity of 
his character, and the splendor of his abilities, have shed 
lustre upon any throne. If it was the age of silver suc- 
ceeding the age of gold, it was succeeded by one far 
baser than itself. Paul II. (1464-1471), the successor 
of Pius, was the sister's son of Eugenius IV., who reigned 
during the sixteen troubled years which intervened be- 
tween Martin V. and Nicholas V. If his character as 
Pope had resembled that of his earlier years, he might 
have left behind him the reputation of his uncle ; but 
the arrogance of his pretensions, his love of display, 
his unscrupulousness in accumulating money, and his 
disregard for his word, or even his oath, have deeply 
stained his name. "You venture to appeal to judges," 
he cried, with a glare ^ at Platina. " As if you did not 
know that all laws are lodged in our breast ! The 
sentence is given. I am Pope, and I have power to 
rescind or to approve, at my pleasure, the acts of all 
other men." 

It has been truly said that, at this time, every other 
precious thing was as cheap at Rome as the Pope's 
oath. But the course was still downwards : Paul II. 
was succeeded by Sixtus IV. (1471-1484). In his reign 
simony was open and undisguised; no benefice was 
given away without being paid for. The unscrupulous- 
ness of his conduct towards his opponents we shall have 
1 Torvis Oculis. Cf. Bower, Popes, A. d 1465. 



20 SAVONAROLA. 

to notice when we come to speak of his quarrel with the 
Medici. Murder he held in certain cases to be justifi- 
able ; and his general character may be judged from the 
generally beheved report that his death was brought on 
by chagrin at a peace being concluded, without his 
sanction, between the Venetians and certain allied pow- 
ers who were at war with them. Of darker charges 
against him, made and believed, we say nothing. The 
chief excuse alleged for his crimes consists in the plea 
that they all proceeded from an immoderate affection 
for his relations, and his desire to promote and enrich 
them. 

Innocent VIII. (1484-1493), if not as bad a man, was 
possibly a worse Pope than Sixtus had been. When the 
latter died, a contemporary wrote : " On this most happy 
day God Almighty showed His power upon earth, and 
delivered His people out of the hand of this most im- 
pious and iniquitous sovereign, in whom dwelt no fear 
of God, no love for the flock of Christ, but shameful 
lust, avarice, and vain-glory." But it was worse in the 
days of his successor. Murders were frequent, and were 
seldom punished when their authors were protected by 
the princes of the Church. A man who had murdered 
his own two daughters was set at liberty on the morning 
of the day appointed for his execution, because he had 
paid eight hundred ducats. And the papal Vice-Cham- 
berlain, when asked why such criminals escaped, gave 
with bitter irony the reply : " God willeth not the death 
of a sinner, but that he shall pay and live ; and so we 
think in Bologna." ^ One incident of this Pope's reign 
may suffice to show its character. We suppress the 

1 No mere story. Steph. Infessura declares that he was pre- 
sent when it was said (Diar., p. 1988, in Rudelbach). 



ITALY IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 21 

most offensive portion of the Pope's words in reference 
to it. 

The Pope's vicar for the city of Rome on one occa- 
sion issued an edict forbidding concubinage, and threat- 
ening the laity who were guilty of it with excommunica- 
tion, and the clergy with suspension and loss of their 
benefices. Innocent had the vicar summoned before 
him, and gave orders that the edict should be withdrawn, 
as concubinage, or something worse, was universal. It 
should be added, however, that he did, although appar- 
ently with reluctance, consent to the renewal of a con- 
stitution of Pius II. forbidding priests to keep taverns, 
play-houses, and houses of ill-fame, or to act as the 
secret agents of prostitutes. This Pope, let it be re- 
membered, was the friend of Lorenzo de' Medici ; and 
one of his natural sons married Lorenzo's daughter Mad- 
dalena. It was he who, on account of this family con- 
nection, conferred the cardinal's hat on Giovanni, the 
brother of Maddalena, afterwards Leo X., when he was 
only thirteen years of age. 

This brings us to the reign of Alexander VI. (1493- 
1503) . It was under this Pope — one of the worst, per- 
haps the very worst, that ever brought dishonor upon 
the loftiest seat in Christendom — that Savonarola was 
put to death. 

The hasty sketch which has been given of the occu- 
pants of the Roman See during these years — nearly 
half a century — will prepare our readers to understand 
something of the times to which our narrative belongs. 
We turn from the Popes to the monks, — in other words, 
to the special representatives of the inward and religious 
life of the Church. 

There was a time when, however it might be in the 



22 SAVONAROLA. 

world, there was purity and devotion in the cloister. 
Without arguing the question whether those who iled 
from the world to the convent did not carry the world 
with them into their retreat, — or the other question, 
whether the monastic life was more a means of deepen- 
ing or of narrowing the spiritual life of men, — there 
can be no question that we are indebted to the religious 
orders for splendid examples of learning, of piety, of 
intellectual power and influence. 

But it is equally undeniable that, like other human 
institutions, these were liable to corruption and decay. 
We see recurring evidences of their degeneracy in the 
rise of reformed communities, — like that of Clairvaux 
breaking off from Clugny, for example. The most 
remarkable attempt to deliver monasticism from its ten- 
dency to luxury and self-indulgence, from its forgetful- 
ness of the vow of poverty, was the almost contempora- 
neous rise of the two great mendicant orders of the 
Dominicans, or Preaching Brothers, and the Francis- 
cans, or Lesser Brothers. Of the vast achievements of 
these two great orders there could be no question, even 
if we had only the name of Aquinas as a son of the 
former, and that of Bonaventura as belonging to the 
latter. Yet these also fell into such decay that their 
reformation seemed almost hopeless ; as we shall have 
occasion to remark in the course of this history. 

On this subject one witness may be adduced, and one 
shall suffice, — Nicolas de Cl^mangis.^ He was born in 
the latter half of the fourteenth century, and survived 
the period of the Council of Basel, dying about 1434. 
He was rector of the University of France, and together 

1 Cf. Wetzer and Welte, Kirchenlexicon, s. v., and Rudel- 
bach. 



ITALY IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 23 

with his master, Pierre d'Ailly, and Gerson, formed the 
triumvirate of Catholic reformers who were the glory of 
France at the beginning of the fifteenth century. The 
sad condition of the Church was the subject of various 
appeals which he addressed to the king of France, 
Charles VII., and to the Anti-pope, Clement VII. ; but 
his principal work was his treatise on the corrupt condi- 
tion or ruin of the Church.-^ In this treatise he has the 
following remarks : — 

" As for the monks, what can we say in commendation of 
those who, according to their vows, ought to be the most 
perfect of all the sons of the Church, since they are re- 
moved from anxiety about the things of the world, and are 
thus able to devote themselves to the contemplation of 
heavenly things, but who are plainly the reverse of all 
this ? For they are, in fact, the most covetous and avari- 
cious of all, and are mere slaves of the world, instead of 
fleeing from it. Nothing is so hateful to them as their 
cell and their convent, reading and praying, their rule and 
religion. Monks they are externally in their dress, but in 
their life and works they are as far as possible removed 
from perfection. And this is the righteous punishment 
which they suffer, that they do not find what they seek ; for 
the revenues of the convents dwindle away more and more 
from their insatiable pursuit of earthly goods ; so that 
where formerly a hundred could live conveniently, now 
hardly ten can exist with the greatest care ; and they 
are scarce able to keep their buildings in a habitable 
condition. 

"And what shall I say of the mendicant friars, who by 
their vow are devoted to the most absolute poverty, and 
glory in being the true disciples and followers of Christ, 
and boast that they alone can give to the people the true 
food of the soul, and show them the way of eternal life ; 

1 De Corrupto Ecclesise Statu, s. de Ruina Ecclesias. 



24 SAVONAROLA. 

that they alone fulfil the obligations of the true servants of 
God, and by their zeal make amends for the neglect, igno- 
rance, and omissions of others who are lukewarm and 
asleep ? In truth, if they had attained to such a degree of 
perfection, they certainly would not thus exalt themselves, 
and despise all others in comparison with themselves. For 
it is the true perfection of the righteous that they never re- 
gard themselves as perfect, but ever increase in humility 
as they grow in grace. By the contrary course the good 
which they really have is corrupted and destroyed. Just 
as the synagogue had its Pharisees, against whom Christ 
spoke most strongly in the Gospel, so are these new apos- 
tles to be regarded as the Pharisees of the Church, to 
whom is applicable all that Christ said of the Pharisees, or 
even much worse. For they are like ravening wolves in 
sheep's clothing, who have the outward appearance of holi- 
ness, but inwardly are defiled with all lusts ; who, Hke the 
priests of Bel, consume that which is offered to God in 
their secret chambers, revelling with their wives and chil- 
dren, — preaching, indeed, what people ought to do, but 
not doing it themselves, and thus through their own preach- 
ing becoming reprobate ; clothing themselves like an angel 
of light, and in that garb serving not Satan, indeed, and 
yet not Christ either, but their own belHes ; alluring the 
hearts of the innocent by their seductive words. 

" And what shall we say of the nuns, if we would avoid 
the appearance of describing, not virgins consecrated to 
God, but brothels and deeds of shame ? In truth, the 
nuns' convents are in these days nothing else than public 
houses of unchastity, places for receiving immoral and 
hcentious young men, so that to let a maiden enter a 
convent is very much the same as offering her for open 
prostitution." 

There is no reason for doubting the general truth of 
this testimony, and the condition of the Papacy at the 
time sufficiently prepares us to believe it. But if these 



ITALY IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 



25 



were the shepherds, what must have been the character 
of the flock ? Doubtless God had, then as always, many 
secret ones who served Him faithfully and devoutly, and 
of these it was the delight of Savonarola to speak ; 
but as regards the Church at large, the times were 
evil, and nothing but revolution or root-and-branch 
reformation could save the Christian communion from 
dissolution. 

The moral tone of Christendom at least had never 
been lower. The most brutal selfishness stalked shame- 
lessly abroad. Despotism, oppression, cruelty, were 
practised all but universally by the rulers of the people. 
Murder had become a trade, and poisoning an art ; and 
both became part of the policy of princes. " In Italy," 
said Pontanus, " there is nothing cheaper than human 
life." The Church was worst of all. " Through the exam- 
ple of the papal court," said Machiavelli, " Italy has lost 
all piety and religion. We have to thank the Church 
and the priests for our abandoned wickedness." ^ 

In considering the work of Savonarola, and the vari- 
ous reforming tendencies which were in operation in his 
times, there is another class of influences which must 
not be overlooked. Leaving out of consideration for 
the moment the spirit of mysticism, which had awak- 
ened in Germany and was extending itself widely and 
fostering a more inward and spiritual life, there was the 
spread of learning through the universities, the invention 
of printing, and that great classical movement which is 
known as the Renaissance. 

The organization of the higher instruction of the na- 
tions in universities was preparing also for the great 
revival of learning which was to work a revolution, not 

^ Discorsi, i. 12. 



26 SAVONAROLA. 

only in the opinions of men, but in their very modes of 
thought, of reasoning, and of investigation. Paris and 
Oxford arose in the thirteenth century, Koln and Prague 
in the fourteenth ; and these not only produced contro- 
versiaHsts who called in question the absolute authority 
claimed for himself by the Roman Bishop, but earnest 
reformers who had no thought of creating a schism in 
the Church, but urgently demanded her purification. If 
Paris had the great names which have just been men- 
tioned, England is not likely to forget that Oxford had 
her Wickliffe, or even that Prague had her Huss. 

With respect to the great literary movement known as 
the Renaissance, so full of light and of darkness, of hb- 
erty and of bondage, the subject is not merely of great 
extent, but involves so many points of controversy that 
we must keep simply on its outskirts ; yet certain facts 
may be noted with regard to which there is at least a 
substantial agreement. 

The Renaissance, so often connected with the capture 
of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453, was not simply 
the result of an event which led to the emigration of a 
large number of Greeks to Italy. No doubt it received 
its most powerful and most visible impulse from this 
occurrence ; but it was in full progress before. The lit- 
erary movement in question " is anterior by more than a 
century to the great event which is assigned as its date. 
It is impossible to deny that there was a strong taste for 
antiquity during the period of the sojourn of the Popes 
at Avignon. Cola di Rienzi was a distinguished human- 
ist before becoming a celebrated revolutionary." ^ It 
would be easy to add other names in whom the same 
tendency is conspicuous. 

^ Christophe, La Papaute pendant le quinzieme Siecle, i. 431. 



ITALY IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 27 

In regard to the inward character of the movement, 
it was essentially humanistic or naturalistic, and in so far 
it was a revolt, not only against Catholicism, but against 
Christianity. It was virtually a return to Greek Pagan- 
ism. It knew nothing of grace ; it w as the m ere wor- 
ship of nature. . A Protestant, looking back upon those 
days from his own present point of view, is apt to imagine 
that it was essentially a protest against the corruptions 
and tyranny of the times, especially as that tyranny was 
embodied in the Roman See. No doubt it was, in a 
measure, such a protest ; but for the most part accident- 
ally. We may even say that it was become a necessity 
for the age in which it arose, and at least a means in the 
hand of Divine Providence for bringing about certain 
sorely needed changes in the Church and the world. 
All this may fairly be allowed. 

To attribute such high principles and purposes to the 
movement itself, however, would be palpably absurd. 
It had no genuine sympathy — to take one example — 
with rational liberty as being the right of all men, and a 
benefit to humanity at large. No doubt it despised 
monkery, asceticism, and restrictions of all kinds. But 
the liberty vdiich it preached was the liberty of educa- 
tion, philosophy, refinement, culture. No Horace could 
have more hated and despised the profane mob. The 
Renaissance would never have emancipated the serf, 
or struck the fetters from the hands and feet of the 
slave. 

In short, it was heathen, and not Christian, and so it 
had no conception of the lofty charity of the Gospel, 
even as it was destitute of its spiritual power. This 
judgment is not a mere theoretical opinion deduced 
from the nature of the case, it is amply confirmed by 



28 SAVONAROLA. 

the facts of history. The Renaissance had no more sym- 
pathy with the self-denial of Christ than it had with the 
absurdities of mediaeval self-torture. It had no more 
sympathy with downtrodden humanity than it had with 
ecclesiastical despotism. 

To a certain extent it was a power working in favor 
of reform. Perhaps its best fruits may be seen in men 
hke Erasmus. But it had no real depth of earnest- 
ness. When the necessity for sacrifice arose, then 
came the evidence that it was not of Christ. It could 
criticise, gibe, sneer, even denounce ; but it could 
not suffer. At bottom it was much more in sympathy 
with a cultivated tyrant than with his uncultivated 
victims. 

"That spirit," says Dr. Bryce,i " whether we call it ana- 
lytical, or sceptical, or earthly, or simply secular, for it is 
more or less all of these, — the spirit which was the exact 
antithesis of mediaeval mysticism, — had swept in and car- 
ried men away with all the force of a pent-up torrent. 
People were content to gratify their tastes and their senses, 
caring little for worship and still less for doctrine ; their 
hopes and ideas were no longer such as had made their 
forefathers crusaders or ascetics ; their imagination was 
possessed by associations far different from those which 
had inspired Dante ; they did not revolt against the Church, 
but they had no enthusiasm for her, and they had enthusi- 
asm for whatever was fresh and graceful and intelligible." 

It might seem strange, but to a deeper view of human 
nature it will seem not unreasonable, that along with 
the sceptical indifference to Divine revelation and 
Christian truth begotten by this movement there came 
a growing belief in astrology and cognate superstitions. 

1 Holy Roman Empire, ch. xvii. 



ITALY IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 29 

Popes who did not believe in God believed in the in- 
fluences of the stars and in the power of magic ; just as 
unbelievers in our own day have attained to a faith in 
table-turning and '' spiritualism." Even at the univer- 
sities they taught astrology as a science. Paul II. de- 
clared that the astrologers had predicted that he should 
become first cardinal, and then Pope ; and the same 
destiny was assigned to Giovanni de' Medici, afterwards 
Leo X., by Marsilio Ficino, who cast his horoscope at 
his birth. Later on, it is asserted, Paul III. never 
held a consistory without first ascertaining from the 
astrologers what hour would be favorable for the 
purpose. 

The characteristics of this movement, as here indi- 
cated, will receive illustration from the history of 
Savonarola. The Renaissance at first helped him. It 
was high-toned, liberal, educated, and therefore it 
would give a hearing to this new prodigy. Nay, it took 
in hand to patronize him. Savonarola knew, by a 
spiritual instinct, how alien its spirit was from his, and 
kept aloof. Some of its better representatives, like the 
elder Pico della Mirandola and Angelo Poliziano, came 
under his influence and died his disciples ; the move- 
ment itself was apart from his work, was ultimately 
opposed to it, and became his persecutor.-^ 

1 On the general subject of this chapter, besides Gibbon, 
Milman, and other standard authorities, cf. Gebhart's Essais: 
De ritalie (Paris: Hachette) ; Historisches Taschenbuch for 
1875. 



30 SAVONAROLA. 



CHAPTER II. 

Savonarola's birth and early years. 

GiROLAMO Savonarola was born at Ferrara on St. Mat- 
thew's day, Sept. 21, 1452. His grandfather, a nadve 
of Padua and the member of a noble family belonging 
to that city,^ had been invited to Ferrara by Niccolo 
d' Este.^ The house of Este, hardly less distinguished 
than that of the Medici for its patronage of literature, 
art, and science, gloried in attracting to the city which 
it ruled, the most distinguished men of the day. Michele 
Savonarola, equally renowned as a man of letters and a 
physician, removed to Ferrara in the beginning of the 
fifteenth century, and had two sons, Giovanni and 
Niccolo. 

Of this Niccolo, his second son, we have very little 
information ; even his profession, if he had one, is un- 
known. What is certain is, that he married a daughter 
of the illustrious house of Bonaccorsi ^ of Mantua, Elena 

1 The Porta Savonarola at Padua recalls to mind the neigh- 
boring residence of that noble family ; and in the Prato della 
Valle stands a statue of Antonio Savonarola, who manfully de- 
fended his native city in the middle of the thirteenth century. — 
Von Reumont ; Lorenzo de' Medici, bk. vi. c. 6 (Mr. Harri- 
son's translation). 

2 This Este is known as Niccol6 III., Marquis of Ferrara. 

3 Thus Pico, and Villari in his first edition. In his second 
(i. 2), he spells the name Bonacossi. 



SAVONAROLA'S BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 31 

by name, and that they had two daughters and five sons, 
of whom our Girolamo was the third.-^ Born, as we 
have said, September 21, he was baptized on October 4, 
the feast of St. Francis, in the church of Santa Maria 
del Vaio, and received the baptismal names of Girolamo 
Maria Francesco Matteo.^ 

If we know nothing of Savonarola's father, we are 
told enough of his mother to prove that there was in 
his case no exception to the theory that great men have 
usually had remarkable mothers. She was a woman of 
a powerful understanding, and of a masculine force of 
character ; and we have a touching proof of the affec- 
tion with which her greatest son continued through life 
to regard her in the fact that, whilst his first letter after 
entering the Dominican order was written to his father, 
it was to his mother that he addressed himself in the 
days of sorrow and trial which were so frequent in his 
later life. 

As a child it would appear that Savonarola was dis- 
tinguished by the seriousness, it might be said almost 
the sorrowfulness, which was his lasting characteristic, as 

1 Burlamacchi gives us the following information respecting 
them. The sons were : i. Ognibene, who became a soldier ; 
2. Bartolommeo, whose profession is unknown; 3. Girolamo; 
4. Marco, first a secular priest, afterwards a Dominican monk 
under his brother, taking the name of Fra Maurelio or Marco 
Aurelio ; 5. Alberto, a skilful physician and kind to the poor, 
in both respects emulating the fame of his grandfather. The 
daughters were Beatrice, who remained unmarried, and Clara, 
who, losing her husband while young, lived a widow with her 
mother and her brother Alberto. Burlamacchi, Vita di Savo- 
narola, p. 3 (Lucca, 1764). 

2 The names are given by his father in a note appended to 
a copy of his son's work, Sul Dispregio del Mondo ; also by 
Burlamacchi. 



32 



SA VONAROLA. 



well as the character of the higher mind of the whole 
age to which he belonged. In person, as we may judge 
from the agreement of several existing portraits, he was 
by no means attractive ; and the fascination which he 
exercised over those who came in contact with him 
proceeded from tone, spirit, and character, and not from 
any physical endowments. Of his personal appearance 
we are enabled to judge, not only from the portraits,^ 
but also from the careful descriptions of his three 
contemporary biographers.^ 

In stature he was rather below the middle size, but 
erect and easy in carriage. His complexion was fair, 
and somewhat ruddy. His forehead was massive and 
broad,^ and deeply furrowed with wrinkles ; his eyes 
dark blue, bright, and penetrating, with long, reddish 
eyelashes, and surmounted by thick eyebrows. His 
nose was prominent and hooked, and he had a large 
mouth with full under-lip, which is said to have com- 
municated a most pleasing expression to his whole 
countenance. His limbs were well proportioned, in- 
clining neither to leanness nor corpulency, but of a fine 

1 Besides an intaglio and some portraits of uncertain origin, 
there are three of great value : the first a fresco in Savonarola's 
cell at St. Mark's, from the pencil of Fra Bartolommeo, one of 
his own fraii. The second, by the same painter, is in the 
Academy of Fine Arts at Florence, and represents Savonarola as 
Peter Martyr. A third portrait, of considerable merit, is pre- 
served in the Rubieri family, and is also attributed to Fra 
Bartolommeo. 

2 Pico della Mirandola, c. i. ; Burlamacchi; and Fra Bene- 
detto, Cedrus Libani, c. 5. 

3 Burlamacchi speaks of it as " eminente e elevata," and Pico 
as "sublimis;" but, judging from all the portraits, this must 
describe the effect produced by its massiveness, and not by its 
height. 



SAVOA^AROLAS BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 33 

and delicate organization. His hands were very thin, — 
so thin that when he was preaching they seemed 
transparent, and his fingers were unusually long and 
tapering. Naturally he was of the sanguino-bilious 
temperament ; ^ but his face was wonderfully calm, and 
of such sweetness of expression that " it seemed to have 
descended from heaven." In conversation and deport- 
ment he was of unequalled gentleness, " affable, sweet, 
and without any asperity." Such was the man as he 
appeared to his most intimate friends in the maturity 
of his life, activity, and power. We can imagine what 
the boy was like in those early days at Ferrara, before 
that massive brow was furrowed, when the sorrows of 
the future were only dimly foreshadowed in the calm 
and serious life of the brooding, meditative, retiring 
boy. 

Whether because his eldest brother Ognibene was 
early marked out for the army, and his second brother 
Bartolommeo was destined to succeed to his father's 
possessions, or because of his own conspicuous native 
powers, he was intended by his parents and by his 
illustrious grandfather for the medical profession, — the 
chief source of their glory as a family. It was perhaps 
for this reason that the aged Michele Savonarola in- 
terested himself so deeply in this grandchild that for 
several years he superintended his education, and 
taught him with the greatest energy and patience, and 
with more than fatherly affection. The instructor did 
not want an apt and willing pupil ; he found in his 
grandson a mind thirsting for knowledge, of more than 
ordinary clearness and acuteness, and endowed with a 

1 " Sanguigno-bilioso," says Villari, — corresponding to what 
we should call choleric and melancholic. 

3 



34 'S^ VONAROLA. 

"marvellous love of truth," and a "judgment which 
seemed carried towards truth by its own nature." ^ 

When Savonarola was but ten years of age, in 1462, 
his grandfather died, and he was sent to one of the 
public schools of his native town, while his father 
privately instructed him in logic and philosophy. His 
progress at school was most decided. The devotion 
with which he addicted himself to his studies was not 
more remarkable than the quickness which he displayed ; 
and he particularly distinguished himself by the " skill 
and acuteness " which he showed in debate, so that 
even in those early days his companions began to pre- 
dict his future greatness. It was indeed " difficult to 
decide whether he most excelled in learning or in the 
gravity of his manners ; " but the gentleness of his dis- 
position seems to have secured for him the esteem even 
of those whom he excelled. 

In those days, as in after life, he loved retirement 
and shunned publicity. When playing with the other 
boys, he would run away and employ himself in erect- 
ing little altars ; but this kind of tendency is so common 
among boys in every country that it would be unsafe to 
infer that he was already thinking of devoting himself to 
the monastic, or even to the clerical life. There is no 
doubt that in later years he often spoke of the " religious 
life " as that which is supremely happy, and that he 
strove to lead men and women to enter this state ; but 
it was long before the thought of it was deliberately 
adopted by himself. When at last he took refuge in the 
convent, his parents were evidently unprepared for 

1 Sentences or phrases thus marked will be understood to be 
derived from one or other of the original authorities, unless when 
it is otherwise specified. 



SAVONAROLA'S BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 35 

such a step, and in one of his sermons he tells us that 
he had declared a thousand times, while still living in 
the world, that he " would never become a monk." ^ 

The determination to enter the religious life was 
brought about by a variety of causes, and not by any 
single incident or series of events. As a child he was 
of a serious and devout disposition ; his studies inclined 
him in the same direction. A personal disappointment 
doubtless disposed him to take the darkest views of the 
evil age in which his lot was cast, and he refers to a 
sermon which he heard when about two and twenty as 
a kind of turning-point in his spiritual history. 

At the time that Savonarola was being educated for 
the medical profession, the sciences were so little dis- 
tinguished that the scholastic philosophy was an essential 
part of his professional studies. In this way he became 
acquainted with the writings of Saint Thomas Aquinas 
and with the Arabic commentaries on Aristotle. The 
hold which these studies gained on his mind, and the 
attachment to the great schoolman which grew up with- 
in him, fostered his native tendencies, and gave that 
direction to his intellectual and religious convictions 
and purposes by which he was influenced through life. 
Indeed," so absorbed did he become in philosophy and 
theology — spending whole days over them — that he 
could hardly spare any thoughts for the special depart- 
ment of medicine. 

The study of Plato belongs to a later period. It was, 
indeed, impossible for a thoughtful ItaHan to remain 
ignorant of the Platonic philosophy in the days of Poli- 
tian and Pico della Mirandola. It was impossible for 
Savonarola to escape entirely the influence of the Renais- 

1 Prediche sopra Amos e Zacharia, Venet., 1528, fol. 251. 



36 SAVONAROLA. 

sance ; and he tells us that he studied the Dialogues 
with care and wrote many notes on them, and that he 
was in some danger of being misled by their fascinations. 
He speaks in one of his sermons of the fashion for 
Platonism having become so strong that one heard of 
nothing from public teachers "but Plato, that divine 
man." "I Was in that error myself," he says, "and 
studied much those dialogues of Plato ,• but when God 
gave me light I destroyed all that I had written on that 
subject." 

There was much in the circumstances of his times to 
deepen the natural seriousness of Savonarola. The state 
of Ferrara must have given rise to grave reflections in 
one who was httle apt to be dazzled by the splendor of 
pomp and show. Few could have been more welcome 
in the halls of the Este than the members of the house 
of Savonarola; but we are told that never but once 
could Girolamo be induced to appear at court. 

Niccolo III., who had invited Michele Savonarola to 
Ferrara, had died before the subject of this memoir 
was born, and was succeeded by his two natural sons, 
Lionello and Borso, whom he had caused to be legiti- 
mized in his lifetime, in consequence of the youth of his 
legitimate son Ercole. Lionello succeeded his father in 
1 44 1, and died in 1450. He ruled with such success in 
troubled times that his country was called the " land of 
peace." Borso was a man of a different stamp.^ He was 
the " Magnificent " of Ferrara, as Lorenzo de' Medici 
was of Florence ; and was so renowned for the splendor 
of his court, and for his abilities and influence, that in 
distant lands he was spoken of as the king of Italy. 

It was while Borso was Marquis of Ferrara, and in 

^ Cf. Signor Villari's remarks, lib. i. cap. i. p. 7. 



SAVONAROLA'S BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 37 

the very year of Savonarola's birth (1452), that Frede- 
rick III. passed through Ferrara, on his way to Rome to 
receive the imperial crown at the hands of the reigning 
Pope, Nicholas V. He was received with great state 
by the Marquis and court of Ferrara ; but as he had 
decided, on his return from Rome, to raise Borso to 
the ducal dignity, preparations were made on the most 
splendid scale for the celebration of the event. 

But these festivities were entirely thrown into the 
shade by the reception accorded to Pius II., in 1458, 
on his way to the Council of Mantua, at which he was 
hoping to stir up Western Christendom to undertake a 
crusade for the recovery of Constantinople. We need 
not dwell upon the hopeful beginning or the ridiculous 
failure of this enterprise ; and we have no means of 
knowing how the youthful mind of Savonarola was im- 
pressed either by the splendid pomps of his native city 
or by the hopes excited on behalf of the suffering East- 
ern Christians. He was only six years of age when the 
Pope passed through Ferrara, on his way to the council. 
He must have been a witness of these festivals ; and he 
probably knew something of the miseries and the hopes 
of the Greeks. All that we know is that he was not 
attracted to the ruling family. When Borso died, and 
his half-brother, the legitimate son of Niccolo III., came 
to the throne as Ercole I., in 147 1, Savonarola was 
nineteen. 

The glory of the Este had not dazzled him. His true 
eye saw the hollowness of courtly splendor. His deep 
religious nature was shocked by the worldliness and 
worthlessness of the lives of the great. His instinctive 
and unquenchable love of liberty could never delight 
in the degradation and misery of his fellow-men, which 



38 SAVONAROLA. 

always result from even the most graceful despotism. 
The chains might be gilded, or even golden ; but in his 
eyes they were none the less fetters upon the bodies 
and souls of men. 

Of his early thoughts we know nothing. Of the pro- 
gress of his education we have hardly any information 
from his biographers, only such scanty facts as we have 
noted, besides occasional allusions in his sermons. But 
we are now coming to the period in which we have 
his own record of the thoughts and emotions that were 
passing in his mhad. He had been a solitary, brooding 
boy, "living httle in the society of his fellows, much 
in his own," caring only for learning and knowledge, 
and for these only as the way to truth. Much he thought 
and meditated on the life of man and the end for which 
he was created ; but as the light within grew brighter, he 
became more and more conscious of the darkness with- 
out. Hora novissima ; tempora pessima : " The world is 
very evil ; the times are waxing late," — this was the 
burden of his thought. The words which the spirit of 
Polydorus uttered with groans in the ears of ^^neas, as 
he told his father afterwards, he recited many times in a 
day with tears : Heu ! fiige crudeles terras^ fiige litus 
avarum ! — "Ah! flee from this cruel land, flee from 
this covetous shore." ^ 

Of the letter in which he makes this declaration we 
shall have to speak presently. It contains his reasons 
for abandoning the world. The desire arose, he says, 
from his beholding " the great misery of the world, the 
iniquities of men, the rapes, the adulteries, the robberies, 
the pride, the idolatry, the cruel blasphemy, which have 
come to such a height in the world that there is no 

1 ^neid, iii. 44. 



SAVONAROLA'S BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 39 

longer any one found who does good. I could not 
bear," he goes on, " the great wickedness of the blinded 
peoples of Italy; and so much the more that I saw 
virtue everywhere disdained, and vice held in honor. 
This was the greatest suffering that I could have had to 
endure in this world ; on which account I prayed every 
day to the Lord Jesus Christ that He would deign to 
raise me up out of this mire. And I made continually 
short prayers to God with the most earnest devotion, 
saying, ' Show Thou me the way that I should walk in, 
for I Hft up my soul unto Thee,' — Notamfac niihi viam 
in qua ambulem, quia ad Te levavi ajiimam meant'' ^ 

It is clear that these were not mere afterthoughts 
which suggested themselves as a justification of the 
course he had taken; for the same feelings are ex- 
pressed in a poem which he composed three years 
before, when he was only twenty, in 1472, "On the 
Ruin of the World." ^ 

If he did not believe, he says, in the infinite provi- 
dence of God, what he saw in the world would make 
him agree with those who deny Him or say that He 
sleeps ; for everywhere virtue is perished and every de- 
cent custom, and there is no true light in the world, 
nor even shame for vices. Rapine and murder are so 
common that he is happy who practises such sins. 

At one moment in his life at Ferrara it seemed as 
though the world might begin to have a new interest 
for him ; but this new hope had scarcely arisen upon 
him when it set, leaving him involved in a thicker dark- 
ness. It is curious that his biographers, with one ex- 
ception, seem to have known nothing of Savonarola's 

1 Psalm cxliii. 8. 

2 De Ruina Mundi, in Poesie (Firenze), 1847, pp. 3-6. 



40 SAVONAROLA. 

disappointment in love ; and it was only quite recently 
that this incident in the history of his early manhood 
was brought to light. It is, however, recorded by his 
own disciple, Fra Benedetto,-"^ and there is no reason 
to doubt the truth of the story. 

It would be inconsistent with all the testimonies re- 
specting his early character to suppose that it was this 
event which gave all its sadness to his life. But it can 
hardly be doubted that it added greatly to his previous 
despondency. The incident is not only interesting in it- 
self, but throws some light upon his natural disposition. 

A citizen of Florence, of the noble family of the 
Strozzi, banished from his native city, had come to 
Ferrara, bringing with him a natural daughter. Living 
in the house next to Savonarola's, she attracted the 
attention and gained the affections of Girolamo, who 
one day availed himself of the opportunity offered of 
speaking to her on the subject of his affection. The 
answer which he received was haughty and insolent : 
" Do you imagine that the blood and the great house 
of the Strozzi could form an alliance with that of Sa- 
vonarola?" It was an unfortunate reply. The girl 
remembered only one half of her parentage ; and the 
mortified lover, provoked by her foolish pride, fiercely 
reminded her of the stain on her birth. We may be 
sure that he repented of his anger when the flushing 
face revealed the feelings which she could find no words 
to express. We may be quite sure that the bitter taunt 
which he had cast at her often came back with pain to 
the memory of the chastened Fra Girolamo in after 
years. 

^ Vulnera Diligentis, lib. i. c. g. It was first discovered by 
Meier (c£. Meier's Leben, c. i. s. 15), 



SAVONAROLA'S BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 41 

The feelings of weariness and revulsion which the 
condition of the Church and the world had aroused 
within him went on deepening, until at last he resolved 
to leave his home and enter a monastery. By day and 
by night his thoughts were of God and eternity, and he 
was meditating continually on the possibility of living 
a better and a higher life. When he was twenty-two 
years of age, we are told, he spent a whole night in 
considering what course he ought to take. In order to 
assist his meditations he had sprinkled his body with the 
coldest water ; and he ended by dedicating himself 
entirely to the service of Jesus Christ.^ It was about 
this time that he was deeply moved by the preaching 
of an Augustinian monk at Faenza, which seems finally 
to have decided his taking the step he had been already 
meditating. Long afterwards he refers to the impression 
then made upon him as deep and powerful. " Once," 
he says, "while I was still in the world, I went for 
amusement to Faenza, and entering by chance the 
church of St. Augustine, I heard a word from an Augus- 
tinian preacher, which I will not tell you now, but which 
to this hour I have in my heart ; and I went and 
became a friar before a year had passed." Fra Bene- 
detto says that Savonarola would never repeat that word ; 
and that, strangely, the monk from whom he heard it 
was known as a man of irregular life ; from which 
Savonarola took occasion to observe that we might learn 
to do well from the Divine Word, whoever preached it. 

When he had once resolved to become a monk, he 
had little difficulty in deciding for the Dominican order, 

^ An incident mentioned, and his age at the time, both by Pico 
and Burlamacchi. 
^ Prediche sopra Ezechiel, Van., 1541, fol. 172 



42 SAVONAROLA. 

to which he was probably attracted by many consid- 
erations, but chiefly by his devotion to Saint Thomas, the 
great glory of the order. We can imagine the emotions 
with which he passed through Bologna (probably the 
route he took), on his way back from Faenza to Ferrara, 
with these new resolves working in his mind. 

The resolution he had formed at once lifted a burden 
from his heart, for he felt he had now broken with the 
ungodly world ; but this joy was darkened by the thought 
of the pain he was about to inflict upon his parents, to 
whom he did not dare to disclose his purpose. It 
seemed to him that his mother was watching him with 
a new and painful interest, as though she were striving 
to read his very heart. For a whole year this struggle 
went on. In the letter to his father from which we have 
already quoted he says, " If I had shown you my pur- 
pose, I believe verily my heart would have broken before 
I could have parted from you, and I should have aban- 
doned the intention I had formed." 

It was hard to leave them, in any case. The night 
before he set forth on his new life, he took his lute in 
his hand and played on it a strain so sorrowful that his 
mother seemed to divine what was passing in his heart, 
and turning to him with saddened looks exclaimed, " My 
son, this is a sign of parting." By a great effort he kept 
his eyes on the ground, and continued with a trembling 
hand to touch the lute, without venturing to answer. 

On the 24th of April the whole city of Ferrara was 
celebrating the festival of St. George ; and it was this 
day, when the thoughts of the populace and of his own 
family were entirely occupied with the festivities, that 
Girolamo had chosen as a time when he could escape 
without being observed. He took his way to Bologna 



SAVONAROLA'S BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 43 

and prayed for admission to the Dominican convent of 
that city, where the great founder of the order hes en- 
slirined. He made but one special request, that he 
might be appointed to perform the most menial duties 
of the fraternity. 

To a mind like that of Savonarola, the convent might 
have possessed many attractions. His tendencies were 
towards solitude rather than intercourse with his fellow- 
men ; and here he might gratify his tastes. His love 
for Saint Thomas and for theological study might have 
led him to desire a manner of life in which such studies 
might reasonably have formed his principal occupation. 
How Httle such considerations weighed with him, we 
may judge not only from his declaration to his father 
that he had come to the resolution of leaving the world, 
because he could no longer endure the corruption of 
the age, but also from the purpose which he formed 
respecting his employments when he entered the convent. 

Savonarola was not unaware of the dangers and temp- 
tations of the monastic life. He was, indeed, so fearful 
of putting on the habit of the religious in a worldly spirit 
that, as he afterwards informed his friend and biographer, 
Pico della Mirandola, he had resolved not to take holy 
orders, nor even to addict himself to his favorite philo- 
sophical studies. It was his fixed intention to ask to 
be employed in manual labor, to work in the garden, to 
make clothes for the brethren, and the like. This reso- 
lution, says Pico, he providentially forgot, God intending 
him for a teacher of others. It is equally probable that 
in the same spirit of humility which prompted the re- 
solve, he abandoned it in obedience to those under 
whom he was placed, and who discerned in him a fitness 
for higher work. 

Although he had shrunk from divulging to his parents 



44 SAVONAROLA. 

his intention of taking the religious habit, yet he would 
not, for a moment longer than he thought necessary, 
leave them in ignorance or anxiety as to the step he had 
taken. Among his books in his desk he left a paper, of 
which a copy has recently been found, on " Contempt of 
the World ; " and on the following day he wrote a letter 
to his father, explaining the reasons which had moved 
him to leave his home. 

The treatise simply sets forth the thoughts which had 
been growing so strong within him of the evils of the 
world. The copy recently discovered bears upon it the 
following touching words, in Italian, from his father's 
hand : — 

" I remember how, on the 24th of April, which was St. 
George's Day in 1475, Geronimo my son, student in arts, 
departed from his home and went to Bologna, and entered 
among the brothers of St. Dominic in order to become a 
brother ; and left me, me Niccolo della Savonarola, his 
father, the underwritten consolations and exhortations for 
my satisfaction." 

The letter from which we have already quoted was 
marked by the most tender affection as well as by the 
greatest earnestness. He tells his father, " I wish you, 
as a true man and one who despises fleeting things, to 
be influenced by truth, and not by passion, like women, 
and to judge, under the dominion of reason, whether I 
am right in fleeing from the world." And then he speaks 
of the evils of the age in words already quoted. 

"And so, dear father," he goes on, "instead of weeping, 
you have rather to thank the Lord Jesus, who has given 
you a son, and then has preserved him to you for twenty- 
two years ; and not only this, but besides has designed to 
make him His knight militant {inilitanto cavalierd). Ah! 
do you not regard it as a great grace to have a son a knight 



SAVONAROLA'S BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 45 

of Jesus Christ ? But, to speak shortly, either it is true 
that you love me, or it is not true. I know well that you 
will not say you do not love me. If then you love me, 
since I have two parts, that is, the soul and the body, do 
you love most the soul, or the body ? You cannot say the 
body, because you would not love me if you loved the baser 
part of me. If then you love the soul best, why should 
you not seek the good of the soul ? Therefore you ought 
to rejoice, and to regard this as a triumph. . . . Do you 
believe that it is not a great grief for me to be separated 
from you ? Believe me, that never since I was born have 
I had a greater grief nor a greater affliction of mind, see- 
ing myself abandon my own blood, and go among people 
unknown, in order to make a sacrifice to Jesus Christ of 
my body, and to sell my will into the hands of those whom 
I never knew. But yet, considering that God calls me, 
and that He does not disdain of us worms to make Himself 
servants, I could not be so bold as not to incline to His 
most sweet voice, which says, 'Come unto Me, all ye that 
labor and are heavy laden, and I will give 3'ou rest. Take 
My yoke upon you.' ... I pray you then, my dear father, 
put a stop to your lamentations, and do not give me more 
sadness and grief than I now endure, — not for grief of that 
which I have done, which I certainly do not wish to recall, 
even if I thought I could become greater than Cassar, but 
because I am still made of flesh, as you are, and the senses 
fight against the reason. ... It only remains for me to 
pray you, hke a man, to comfort my mother, whom I pray, 
together with you, to give me your benediction : and I will 
always pray fervently for your souls. Ex Bononia, die xxv. 
y^/rzYzj- (Bologna, April 25), 1475. . . . Hieronymus Savo- 
narola, films vester. To the noble and excellent man Nic- 
olas Savonarola, the best of parents {^parenti Optimo).'" ^ 

1 This letter has been often published, but an accurate copy 
was for the first time printed from the autograph by the Count 
Carlo Capponi. Villari reproduces this text, and from his work 
our translation is made. 



46 - SAVONAROLA. 

What effect this letter may have produced we cannot 
tell, but there is a second letter extant, without date, 
in which he complains of their excessive grief. 

" Why do ye weep, blind ones ? " he begins. " Why do 
ye complain so much ? If our temporal prince had called 
me now to gird a sword on my side in the midst of the 
people, and to make me one of his knights, what joy you 
would have experienced ! And if I had then repudiated 
such an honor, would you not have thought me a fool ? . . . 
And now tlie Prince of princes, He who is of infinite 
power, calls me with a loud voice, even prays me (O great 
love !) with a thousand tears, to gird a sword on my side, 
of the finest gold and precious stones, and wishes to place 
me among the number of His knights militant. And now, 
because I have not refused so great honor, although I am 
unworthy (and who would refuse it ?), — because I, giving 
thanks to so great a Lord, since He thus wills, have ac- 
cepted it, — you all afflict me, when you ought to rejoice 
and give thanks ; and the more you do so, the more you 
show that you love me." 



MONASTIC LIFE AT BOLOGNA. 47 



CHAPTER III. 

MONASTIC LIFE AT BOLOGNA. 

When Savonarola arrived in Bologna, the city, after 
many variations of fortune, had become, in name at least, 
the second capital of the Papal States, although the 
family of Bentivoglio, by whom it was governed, held the 
papal supremacy very lightly. But the young novice 
had at this time no thoughts for questions which he 
afterwards felt to be of vital importance to the well-being 
of Italy. We may even doubt whether that splendid 
shrine in the convent church, one of the greatest works 
of Nicola da Pisa, upon which so many pilgrims have 
gazed with admiration, interested him otherwise than as 
the resting-place of the great founder of his order. 

During his novitiate, and indeed during his whole life 
at Bologna, he abstained, as far as possible, from all so- 
cial intercourse with his fellow-men. Every hour that 
he could gain for the purpose he spent in silent medita- 
tion and prayer. His companions compared his man- 
ner and conduct to those of the ancient ascetics and 
hermits of Egypt, as they saw him moving about like a 
ghost, worn to a shadow by fasts and vigils. 

In every respect he kept his vow of poverty to the 
letter, or rather in excess. He ate only enough to sus- 
tain life. His garments were the roughest and the 
coarsest that he could procure, but always scrupulously 



48 SAVONAROLA. 

clean. His shoes were long and turned up at the points, 
for, he said, " they would be full of precious stones in 
Paradise." His bed consisted of pieces of wood and 
sticks laid across so as to form a kind of lattice-work, on 
which were placed a sack of straw and a woollen sheet, 
with a coarse frock thrown over them. 

As regards his vow of purity, his biographers speak of 
his eminence in this respect as being represented in his 
writings, and as the reason for his being favored with 
visions of the world of spirits. Nor was his obedience 
less remarkable ; for while he was in most perfect subjec- 
tion to his superiors, he was humble and gentle to equals 
and inferiors, and although he spoke very little, he was 
always kind and affable in manner. It was perhaps the 
happiest and most tranquil period in all his life. Speak- 
ing of it afterwards,' he says : " It was said to me. Go 
forth from your home and your country, and leave all. 
And I was guided to the harbor of the sea, that is, to 
religion, which is the true and safe harbor to him who 
seeks for salvation. And I came to this port when I 
was twenty- three years old. And two things above all 
others I loved, which drew me to this harbor, — liberty 
and peace." 

With all his gentleness and humility, he did not lack 
those powers of sarcasm which were afterwards displayed 
in his preaching. There is a story told of two monks of 
Vallombrosa who came to visit him, who were them- 
selves so struck by the contrast between his coarse 
garments and their own more luxurious attire that they 
thought it necessary to give some explanation of their 
usages. Their frocks, they said, were made of fine 

1 Prediche sopra alquanti Salmi ed Aggeo, Ven., 1544, 
fol. 141. 



MONASTIC LIFE AT BOLOGNA. 49 

cloth because it wore so much longer. " Ah," replied 
the Frate, dr}'ly, " what a pity it is that Saint Benedict 
and Saint Giovanni Gualberto did not know that ; for 
then they might have worn the same ! " ^ 

During the seven years that he remained in the con- 
vent at Bologna he was unremitting in his studies. His 
old favorite, Saint Thomas, he never abandoned, and 
he greatly delighted in works of devotion Hke those of 
Augustine and Cassian ; but there grew in him an ever- 
increasing tendency to turn from other books and give 
himself more and more to the study of the Holy Scrip- 
tures. He is said ^ to have committed the whole of the 
Canonical Books to memory, — a practice which bore 
abundant fruits in his after labors ; and it was here that 
he formed the habit, never afterwards abandoned, of 
making notes on the margins of his Bible, his Breviary, 
and other books. Several of these are still in existence, 
and one of the most interesting objects now shown in 
the convent of St. Mark at Florence is one of his Bibles, 
kept in his cell, the margins of which are covered 
with notes in his beautiful but minute handwriting. It 
is an instance of the affectionate interest which his early 
biographers took in the smallest particulars of his life 
and habits, and also of the uncertain inferences they 
drew from them, that Burlamacchi mentions that this 
habit of annotating his Bible and Breviary with all that 
was necessary for preaching and hearing confessions 
enabled him to travel without a valise {la valigid) ! 

It was not long before his superiors determined to 
make use of his gifts for the benefit of the community ; 

1 Burlamacchi gives the story here ; it is quite as likely, how- 
ever, to have belonged to the period of his reforms at Florence. 

2 Burlamaccni. 

4 



50 SAVONAROLA. 

and therefore they set him to instruct the novices of the 
convent. It was with no small reluctance that he com- 
plied with this command, foreseeing, as he did, that it 
would involve the sacrifice of many hours of solitude, 
of meditation and prayer ; but he obeyed, and in this, 
as in every other occupation, he gained the esteem and 
admiration of his brethren. 

The " peace and liberty " which he had sought and 
found might now have secured to him a calm and tran- 
quil Hfe, if he could have forgotten the evils of the 
world, if he had not found these evils asserting their 
dominion within the walls of the convent. Already, we 
are told, he was struck with the contrast between the 
monks of his own day and those of earlier and better 
days, when he saw multitudes around him heedless of 
the Word of God and the life of grace, and " intent 
only upon enriching the churches and building the most 
beautiful convents, and many others occupying them- 
selves in numberless vanities." 

It might seem to be a proud boast which he uttered 
in later days, that he was entirely devoted to the pursuit 
of truth ; but those who follow him from the time of his 
entering the Dominican order throughout his life, and 
thoughtfully ponder his words and his deeds, his utter- 
ances in public and in private, and his conduct as a 
priest and a patriot, will hardly refuse to allow the truth 
of his claim. 

" I have always," he says, '•' striven after truth with all 
my might, and sought unceasingly to win all men to it, 
as I have declared a constant war against falsehood, 
which I have always hated. The more trouble I be- 
stow upon it, the greater becomes my longing, so that 
for it I could abandon life itself. When I was but a 



MONASTIC LIFE AT BOLOGNA. 51 

boy, I had such thoughts ; and from that time the 
desire and longing after this good has gone on increas- 
ing to the present day. " ^ " Truth," he says in another 
place, "should be loved for its own sake, and brings 
great joy to those who find it. It enlightens the spirit 
with a divine splendor, and leads the soul to communion 
with God, who is Truth itself." "^ 

To such a man the condition of men and things 
around him was intolerable. His first poem has shown 
us what he thought of the world before he left it. He 
had not been long in the convent before he wrote a sec- 
ond on the ruin of the Church (" De ruina Ecclesiae ")• 
It is said to have been composed in the year 1475, the 
first of his monastic life. " Where," he asks, addressing 
the Church as a "chaste virgin," to whom he, although 
unworthy, belongs, being one of the members of her 
eternal Spouse, — " where is the light of the early days ? 
Where are the gems and the fine diamonds? Where 
are the burning lamps and the beautiful sapphires ? " — 
meaning the saints and martyrs, the love and devotion of 
the early Church. " Where are the white stoles and the 
sweet chants? " The virgin takes him by the hand and 
leads him to a cave, and tells him that, when she saw 
proud ambition enter Rome, she departed, and dwelt 
where she could lead her life in lamentation. Then she 
shows him her wounded body and her dishevelled hair ; 
and when he asks who it is that has thus dethroned 
her and broken her peace, she answers : " A false, proud 
harlot, Babylon." "And I : ' In God's name, lady tell 
me, can these great wings be broken?' And she: 

1 Dialogo della veriti profetica, fol. 72. 

2 Prediche sopra diversi Salmi, etc., fol. 42. (Qu. by 
Meier, p. 21.) 



52 SAVONAROLA. 

' Mortal tongue must not speak it ; nor is it allowed to 
take up arms. Weep and be silent, for this is best.' " ^ 

When we remember that Sixtus IV. was Pope during 
the whole of the seven years that Savonarola spent at 
Bologna, we shall understand what hope of reformation 
he could have drawn from the character of the Head of 
the Church. But the secular rulers of Italy were no 
better — how could they have been better? — than its 
spiritual chief. Liberty had perished in all the ancient 
republics, Venice alone, perhaps, excepted, Bologna 
was ruled by a Bentivoglio. Milan was under the weak 
but tyrannical Galeazzo Sforza. Florence, after being 
ruled by the wise and able Cosimo de' Medici, who 
never discarded the forms of liberty even when the real- 
ity was gone, had been succeeded (1464) by his weak 
and incapable son, Piero,^ who, happily for the prospects 
of his family, died in 1469, and was succeeded by 
Lorenzo. 

It is not merely in order to illustrate the condition of 
the world at this time, but also on account of its direct 
bearing upon the history of Savonarola, that we pause for 
a moment to relate the history of a tragedy, neglected by 
no historian of this period, which took place at Florence 
in 1478, three years after Savonarola entered the con- 
vent at Bologna, four years before he left it and came to 
Florence. Whether we consider the character and po- ' 
sition of the family assailed, the nature and ramifications 
of the conspiracy formed against them, the designs of 

1 The poem is given, witli copious notes, in the Poesie, ed- 
ited by Audin de Rians (Firenze, 1847). 

2 Von Reumont shows, however, that this Piero was a man 
possessed of many admirable qualities, — very different from his 
grandson who bore the same name. 



MONASTIC LIFE AT BOLOGNA. 53 

the conspirators, or the actual results of the attempt, 
the conspiracy of the Pazzi will appear to be one of 
the most remarkable events of the period to which it 
belongs. 

The name of the Medici will hold a prominent place 
in these pages. They were the most powerful family in 
Florence, and in some respects they had merited the 
influence to which they had attained. The Pazzi were 
among the oldest famihes and the greatest of the same 
State. They were connected with the Medici by mar- 
riage ; but for some reasons, real or imagined,^ they 
bore a grudge against them, and they envied them the 
power which they possessed in Florence. But the Pazzi 
were not alone in the conspiracy. It has even been 
doubted whether they were its prime movers. That 
place has, by some historians, been assigned to the 
Holy Father himself; and if Sixtus IV. was not the in- 
stigator of the attempt,^ there is no doubt that he gave 
it the most energetic support, and his nephew, the 
Count Girolamo Riario, took an active part in the whole 
scheme. Their design was to murder Lorenzo de' 
Medici and his brother Giuliano, and thus to crush the 
power which was inconvenient to the Pope and hateful 
to the Pazzi. Determined to stop at no obstacles, 
when they found it almost impossible to slay the two 
brothers at once, they determined at last to assassinate 
them at the time of High Mass, on the occasion of a 
great solemnity in the cathedral of Florence. 

A soldier of some reputation, by name Montesecco, 
had been employed to perpetrate the crime ; but the 

* They were not merely imaginary. Cf. Von Reumont, Lo- 
renzo de' Medici, bk. ii. c. i. 

2 Tiie Pope professed, at least, to discountenance the murder. 



54 SAVONAROLA. 

man who was ready to commit murder was not pre- 
pared to incur the guilt of sacrilege. They had to find 
other tools, and they found them in two priests. This 
can hardly seem wonderful, when the conspirators were 
supported by the Pope, and had for their most active 
leader Francesco Salviati, Archbishop of Pisa. This 
man had been appointed by the Pope in opposition to 
the wishes of the Medici, and he was now in Florence, 
taking counsel with the other conspirators, waiting to 
reap his revenge. The murder accomplished, they were 
going to raise the populace, under the pretence of re- 
storing their lost liberty, and then to take possession of 
the property of the murdered men. 

The signal for the striking of the blow was the bell 
which announced the elevation of the host ; and Giuli- 
ano de' Medici^ fell dead under the knife of one of the 
assassins. Lorenzo was only wounded, and was able to 
defend himself until, with the assistance of his friends, he 
escaped into the sacristy of the church. Still, the con- 
spirators hoped their work was not in vain ; they might 
raise the populace, and finish it by open violence. The 
populace rose in defence of the Medici. In a few hours 
the Archbishop of Pisa was swinging, in his episcopal 
robes, from a window of the Palazzo Vecchio, and one 
of the Pazzi was hanged beside him. The conspiracy 
had failed, and many of the conspirators were hunted 
down and slain. 

The wrath of the Pope knew no bounds, and broke 
forth in threats and anathemas, — not against the sac- 
rilegious desecrators of temples, the conspirators, the 
assassins, but against Florence and the Medici. It is 

1 Of this Giuliano, Pope Clement "VII. was the illegitimate 
son. 



MONASTIC LIFE AT BOLOGNA. 55 

worth while to glance at the document in which he set 
forth the wrongs he had suffered from the Florentines, 
and the punishment he found it necessary to inflict upon 
them. "According to the example of the Saviour," said 
his Holiness, " he had long suffered in peace the insults 
and the injuries of his enemies, and he should still have 
continued to exercise his forbearance, had not Lorenzo 
de' Medici, with the magistrates of Florence and their 
abettors, discarding the fear of God, inflamed with fury, 
and instigated by diabolical suggestions, laid violent 
hands on ecclesiastical persons, hung up the archbishop, 
imprisoned the cardinal [his nephew], and by various 
means destroyed and slaughtered their followers [the 
accomphces of the assassins]." He then proceeded to 
excommunicate Lorenzo and the magistrates of the 
repubhc, and their " immediate successors, declaring 
them incapable of receiving or transmitting property by 
inheritance or will, and prohibiting their descendants 
from enjoying any ecclesiastical employment. By the 
same instrument he suspended the bishops and clergy 
of the Florentine territories from the exercise of their 
spiritual functions." -^ 

These things were not done in a corner, the sound of 
them went throughout all the world. We may judge 
whether the Dominican friar at Bologna who, three years 
before, had in his Canzona spoken of Rome as Baby- 
lon, " a false, proud harlot," could now shake off the 
horror with which he regarded the state of the visible 
Church in its root and in its branches. The Pope, be 
it remembered, was that Sixtus IV. who occupied the 
" chair of Peter " during the whole of the seven years in 

^ Roscoe, Life of Lorenzo de' Medici, c. iv. Cf. also Capponi, 
Repubblica di Firenze, lib. v. c. 5. 



56 SAVONAROLA. 

which Savonarola was watching and praying, and study- 
ing and teaching, and grieving over the ruin of the 
Church at Bologna. Amid such circumstances were his 
thoughts and purposes for the future being shaped. 
Under such influences was he trying to learn what work 
his Master had set him to do in the world. 

Savonarola's success as a teacher was so great that his 
superiors appointed him to preach ; nor was he slow in 
yielding obedience to the command. The fire was 
kindling within him, and he was preparing, unconsci- 
ously, perhaps, to speak with his tongue words that 
would be felt and remembered. This result was not, 
however, achieved at once. It is with some astonish- 
ment that we learn how little his first sermons seem to 
have gained the attention of his hearers. The reasons 
were manifold, and they are to be sought partly in the 
corrupt taste of the age, and partly in the peculiar genius 
and mission of the preacher. 

It had been the fashion with the popular preachers of 
those days to indulge in the most fanciful conceits and 
tricks of rhetoric, for the purpose of attracting and amus- 
ing their hearers. A sermon was, in their eyes, either a 
light recreation or a means of exercising their own dia- 
lectical subtlety. To the deep moral earnestness of 
Savonarola all this was horrible and revolting ; and it is 
possible that in shrinking from the use of artifice in the 
pulpit, he may have shown a disregard of those rules of 
spoken composition which few can afford to neglect. 
None of the early sermons have been preserved, so that 
we have no means of judging of them. It is very prob- 
able, however, that the Frate had not yet found his own 
proper manner of address ; that the emotions which 
were struggling within him had hardly shaped themselves 



MONASTIC LIFE AT BOLOGNA. 57 

into definite thoughts, so as to be ready for articulate 
and coherent utterance. Indeed, the testimony on the 
subject is not quite consistent. We learn, for example, 
that he was ordered by his superiors to go and preach at 
Ferrara ; and while we are told that his fellow-citizens 
heard his preaching with great favor, he himself com- 
plains, in a letter written to his mother from Pavia, eight 
years after, that in him was fulfilled the saying : Nemo 
propheta in patria sua, — " No prophet is accepted in 
his own country." ^ On the occasion of this visit to his 
native town he avoided meeting any of his old acquaint- 
ances, and he saw very little even of his parents, for 
fear of awakening sentiments which he wished to remain 
forever dead. 

Although his public teaching seems to have been un- 
successful, this was not the case either with his private 
instructions or his personal admonitions. A story is told 
by his biographers of the remarkable effect produced on 
a number of hardened and reckless men by his remon- 
strances. On a certain occasion he journeyed from 
Ferrara to Mantua in a boat alone with eighteen sol- 
diers, who were playing and using obscene language, 
when he asked leave to speak a few words to them. 
Pico says that he spoke to them for the space of half 
an hour most earnestly on the sinfulness of their life ; 
and both he and Burlamacchi relate that, before he had 
ended his address, eleven of them fell prostrate at his 
feet, confessing their great and innumerable sins, and 
asking pardon with tears for the offences of which 
they had been guilty against the Frate and against 
God. 

But a series of events were about to occur which 

1 St. Luke iv. 24. 



58 SAVONAROLA. 

were destined to alter the whole course of his life. In 
the same year in which he had been sent to preach in 
his native town (1482), a war broke out between Venice 
and Ferrara, which was at first carried on between these 
two States, but soon divided all Italy into two hos- 
tile factions. Florence alone remained undisturbed by 
the tumult which arose, while Ferrara was its very cen- 
tre. It was in many respects a strange and curious 
struggle. Pope Sixtus, it is said, had stirred up the 
Venetians at the beginning of the war, and there is no 
doubt that he was on their side ; but he shortly after- 
wards came to see that his interests would be more ad- 
vanced by espousing the cause of their enemies. He 
thereupon turned round, excommunicated the Vene- 
tians, and did his utmost to inflame and keep alive the 
strife he had kindled. With such an ally on either side, 
it is not wonderful that the contending powers became 
anxious to conclude a peace ; and this they accom- 
phshed in two years from the beginning of the war, 
1484. This was the peace which proved the death of 
the Holy Father, "You announce to me," he said, 
" a peace of shame and disgrace." His grief and rage 
brought on an attack which carried him off on the fol- 
lowing day. 

Savonarola was at Ferrara, in the convent of Santa 
Maria degli Angeli, when the war broke out ; and the 
Venetians having threatened to storm the city and mas- 
sacre the inhabitants, a number of the brethren were 
sent away and distributed among different cities of Italy. 
Savonarola was among those who were sent to the con- 
vent of St. Mark at Florence. 

It was apparently with reluctance that he had gone to 
Ferrara, and in a letter afterwards written to his mother, 



MONASTIC LIFE AT BOLOGNA. 



59 



he points out that it was better he should not remain 
there. 

" It is very seldom," he says, *' that a monk can do his 
best work in his native country. People have less confi- 
dence in the counsels of a fellow-citizen than in those of a 
stranger. ' No prophet is accepted in his own country,' 
said our Saviour ; and He was not accounted one by His 
own countrymen. If I wanted to do in Ferrara what I do 
in other cities, they would say, as they said of Christ : ' Is 
not this the Carpenter, the son of a carpenter and of Mary ?' 

— so of me : ' Is not this Master Girolamo, who com- 
mitted such and such sins, and who was no better than we 
were ? We know him well.' And they would give no 
heed to my word. . . . Out of my own country," he adds, 

— it is a son writing in all simplicity to a mother — " it is 
not so. On the contrary, when I want to leave, men and 
women weep." 

It was not destined that the brother should remain at 
Ferrara ; and this change in his circumstances was of 
the greatest import as a turning-point, perhaps the most 
important, in his life. He was bidding a last farewell to 
Ferrara and to those whom he loved so tenderly, and 
whom he was never again to see on earth. But what 
was the past which he was leaving, compared with the 
future upon which he was now entering? He might 
continue to be spoken of as Girolamo of Ferrara, but 
henceforth it is as a brother of St. Mark's and a citizen 
of Florence that he belongs to the world and to 
history. 

How much depends upon what men call accidents I 
Who can tell what the fortune of Savonarola would have 
been if he had been sent to some other town of Italy, 
undisturbed by the storms which raged in his new home ? 



6o SAVONAROLA. 

There was not a second Florence j and at a distance 
from this great city he might have been a great teacher, 
preacher, reformer, — he could hardly have been insig- 
nificant anywhere, — but his place in history would have 
been altogether different; and so, indeed, would the 
history of Italy itself have been, for we may say, without 
hesitation, there was no other man of that age who could 
have filled his place. If there was no second Florence, 
there was no second Savonarola. 



THE BROTHER OF ST. MARK'S, 6l 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE BROTHER OF ST. MARK's. 

The convent of St. Mark in Florence was originally 
built by a company of Sylvestrine monks from Vallom- 
brosa at the close of the thirteenth century, about the 
same time that the Palazzo Vecchio was built for the 
Signoria. The order of the Sylvestrines had its begin- 
ning some sixty years before, and came to have as many 
as twenty-five convents and three hundred brethren; 
' but it is now almost extinct, many of its members hav- 
ing been absorbed into other societies. For a whole 
century these monks lived in their convent, honored by 
the citizens of Florence for their virtues and their work. 
But the great plague of Florence, which broke out in 
1400, and which has been so powerfully described by 
Boccaccio in the introduction to the Decameron, seems 
to have produced the same twofold effects which re- 
sulted from the plague at Athens, described by the still 
more powerful pen of Thucydides. While some had 
their devotion deepened and strengthened, others be- 
came reckless, or fell into thoughtless and irreligious 
courses. 

With the Sylvestrines of St. Mark's the effect of the 
plague was to relax their discipline and to engender all 
those evils which flow from a neglect of rule. This 
degeneracy seems to have gone on for a whole genera- 



62 SAVONAROLA. 

tion. About the time of the plague there was a society 
of Dominicans which, after several vicissitudes of fortune 
and of character, had been settled at the small convent 
of San Georgio, on the south side of the Arno, in the 
San Miniato district, behind the Boboli Gardens.-^ This 
Dominican society had undergone more than one re- 
moval, but had been so improved by the discipline that 
it was determined by the Pope and the Signoria that 
they should take possession of the larger convent of 
St. Mark, and transfer their own to the Sylvestrines. 

When these reformed Dominicans of the Lombard 
congregation ^ took possession of San Marco it was in a 
state of the utmost dilapidation. The dormitory had 
recently been destroyed by a fire, so that the monks 
were forced to seek for shelter in wooden huts. Cosimo 
de' Medici, the great founder of Medicean influence in 
Florence, undertook the restoration of the buildings. 
He promised the monks ten thousand scudi for the 
purpose, but he is said to have spent as much as thirty- 
six thousand. The work extended over nearly seven 
years (1436-1443), and was carried on under the direc- 
tion of Michelozzo Michelozzi, an architect of some 
celebrity. It should be stated, however, that the build- 
ings have since his time been greatly altered. The 
church, for example, which dates back as far as 1290, 
had its fagade reconstructed by Pronti in 1777. It 
should be added that Cosimo — Fater Patrice, as he 
was called, and not altogether without reason — did 

1 The gardens were, of course, still in the future. In fact, 
the Pitti Palace is said to have been undertaken in the very 
year of the exchange mentioned in the text, and the building to 
have been commenced five or six years later. 

2 It is of some importance to note their description. 



THE BROTHER OF ST. MARK'S. 63 

not rest contented with having merely reconstructed 
the buildings of the convent. He resolved upon a more 
difficult enterprise, — to bestow upon the monks the 
gift of a valuable library. Luckily for his purpose, there 
had just died Niccolo Niccoli, the most celebrated 
collector of books and manuscripts, and one of the 
most learned men of that age. His collection, which 
was of great value, he left to the public, but burdened 
by very heavy debts. Cosimo paid off the debts, and 
after retaining some valuable manuscripts as his own, 
he presented the remainder to the convent of St. Mark. 
It was the first public library in Italy, and was 
not merely highly prized by the brethren, but was 
the means of stimulating the literary industry of the 
society. 

But the rebuilding of the monastery was only a pre- 
paration for those nobler works of art which are some of 
the most striking illustrations of the heavenly spirit of a 
brother of the newly settled society, Fra Angehco, or as 
he was then called, Fra Giovanni da Fiesole. It was 
a wonderful era in Florentine art. Exactly a century 
before, Giotto had been raising his matchless Campanile 
by the side of the ancient Baptistery of St. John. While 
Frk Giovanni was covering the walls of San Marco with 
the fruits of his devotion, Brunelleschi was planning 
and carrying out the execution of that glorious dome, 
the admiration and perhaps the inspiration of Michael 
Angelo,-^ which was to soar aloft and dominate the whole 
city, rising a hundred feet higher even than Giotto's 
tower. Of these charming frescos we can say but 

1 Michael Angel o's reply is well known, when he was told 
that he was about to erect for St. Peter's at Rome a finer dome 
than Brunelleschi's. " Piu grande," he said, " ma non piii bello." 



64 SAVONAROLA. 

little here. No one who has seen them in their marvel- 
lous freshness on the walls of St. Mark's is likely to for- 
get them. Untravelled Enghshmen may study them in 
the admirable copies of the Arundel Society ; and we 
may well beheve that they often kindled the pious 
imagination and soothed the troubled heart of the new 
friar. 

Fra Angelico's is not the only great name connected 
with San Marco. There was another, which in those 
days, at least, was held in still greater esteem, that of 
Antonino, " one of those characters which do real honor 
to the human race." ^ He was the creator of many be- 
neficent institutions in Florence ; and he renovated and 
reorganized many others. It was he who converted the 
society of the Bigallo, founded by Saint Peter Martyr for 
the extermination of heretics, into a charitable institution. 
Instead of carrying on the bloody work of the Inquisi- 
tion, the brethren now devoted themselves to the care 
of orphan children. He was also the founder of the 
"Good Men of Saint Martin" {Buoji' Uomini di San 
Martino), who collected alms for the relief of the de- 
serving and shamefaced poor {poveri ve^-gognosi) at 
their own houses. His self-denial was equal to his warm 
love for God and man and his active charity on behalf 
of the suffering and needy. He died in 1459, lamented 
as a public loss by all Florence ; and Savonarola found 
his name revered, and his life held up as the highest 
example for the imitation of the brotherhood, when he 
arrived in Florence in 1482. 

When Savonarola came to Florence he often heard 
the brethren of San Marco extolling the piety of Sant' 
Antonino ; but it was not long before he discovered that 
1 Villari. 



THE BROTHER OF ST. MARK'S, 65 

their admiration did not involve the purpose of imita- 
tion. His was more a name to boast of than an ideal 
to reach after. In this convent, too, all was worldliness 
and irreligion. The immorality of the people had as- 
sumed a more refined form under the influence of the 
prophets of the Renaissance. In this mediaeval Athens 
there was little that seemed coarse and outwardly repul- 
sive ; but its poHshed cynicism, its refined sensuality, its 
utter heartlessness and unbeHef were, if possible, more 
disgusting to the serious, earnest spirit of Savonarola than 
evil more coarse and less disguised would have been. 
The "religious" were hardly different from the men of 
the world. Religion was the thing they cared for least ; 
even theology had little interest for them. We can im- 
agine with what bitter grief and disappointment Savo- 
narola beheld the eager interest manifested in Plato and 
Aristotle, and the utter neglect of Saint Thomas and even 
of Saint Paul. 

It must be remembered that Fri Girolamo had no 
personal reason for mortification. His reputation had 
gone before him, and he had hardly entered the new 
brotherhood when the prior, Vincenzo Badella, appointed 
him to the same post which he had held at Bologna, 
that of Lettore, or instructor of the novices ; and he dis- 
charged the duties of his office with great success for 
the four years of his first residence at Florence (1482- 
1486). It was probably for this reason that he was ap- 
pointed in the year 1483 to preach the Lent sermons at 
St. Lorenzo ; but here, as in his former attempts, he met 
with no success. It is said that only five and twenty 
persons could be induced to listen to his sermons ; and 
this at a time when the church of Santo Spirito was 
crowded by multitudes who hstened eagerly to a rival 

5 



66 SAVONAROLA. 

preacher, a favorite of the Medici, named Mariano da 
Gennazzano. 

The reasons for Savonarola's failure are to be found 
both in his subjects and in his manner. The topics on 
which alone he cared to preach were connected with 
those subjects in which his hearers took no interest. 
The Frate was in deadly earnest, whilst the Florentines 
had lost all depth and seriousness of thought. He had 
started on a crusade against sin and unbelief in all their 
forms, burning with an unquenchable love of God and 
an irrepressible zeal for tlie salvation of souls. To them, 
for the time at least, sin and holiness, condemnation and 
salvation, were become almost unintelligible expressions. 

It would hardly be possible to give a more clear and 
intelligible idea of the contrast than that which is set 
forth by contemporaries respecting the preaching of 
Savonarola on the one hand, and this Mariano da Gen- 
nazzano on the other.-^ 

Benivieni, in a letter written long afterwards to Pope 
Clement VII., the natural son of the murdered Giuliano 
de' Medici, in defence of Savonarola's teaching, relates 
that on one occasion he said to the Frate, " Father, it 
cannot be denied that your doctrine is true, useful, and 
necessary ; but your manner of expression is wanting in 
grace, especially as this admirable Fra Mariano is here 
every day." Savonarola replied, " This elegance of lan- 
guage must be allowed to give way before the simplicity 
of preaching sound doctrine." There is no doubt that 
Savonarola's preaching was at that time defective in va- 
rious respects. His voice is said to have been weak, 
his intonation bad, his action awkward, his pronuncia- 
tion wanting in refinement, his style heavy. Oppressed 
1 For this I am indebted to Villari, 



THE BROTHER OF ST. MARK'S. 67 

by the weight of his matter, he probably neglected the 
order and method without which it is almost impossible 
to convey effectively and impressively one's thoughts in 
public speaking. But there were other reasons to be 
found in the utter corruption of the public taste, in the 
false notions almost universally prevailing on the mission 
and work of the Christian preacher. 

A better proof of this statement could hardly be 
adduced than that which is found in the judgment 
pronounced on the preaching of Fra Mariano by a critic 
no less competent than Politian. His commendations 
of this preacher, as Villari remarks, form the best illus- 
tration of his own defects and those of the admiring 
audience in general. " I went," he says, " rather preju- 
diced against him, for the loud applause had made me 
distrustful. I had hardly, however, entered the church, 
when the dress, the countenance, the figure, changed 
my mind, and I instantly desired and expected some- 
thing great. I confess that sometimes in the pulpit he 
seemed to grow to a superhuman stature. He began to 
speak. I am all ears [mark] at his melodious voice, 
his well-chosen words, his sonorous sentences. Then I 
remark the divisions, I observe the periods, I am domi- 
nated by the harmonious cadence," and so forth. This 
was the judgment of a man of great learning and of the 
most refined taste. What, then, must have been the 
opinion and sentiments of the masses? It can hardly 
be surprising that the rough prophetic utterances of Fra 
Girolamo failed at first to gain the ears -^ which sought 

1 Burlamacchi says that his failure seemed then so complete 
that he thought of giving up preaching, and keeping to the expo- 
sition of Scripture ; that he was advised to do this, and actually 
announced publicly his intention of doing so. 



68 SAVONAROLA. 

for gratification in elegant language, apt quotation, clas- 
sical allusions, graceful gestures, — in oratory which was 
intended merely to charm, sometimes to amuse, but 
which was never animated by any more lofty purpose. 

Brooding on the evils of the age, striving with all his 
might to deliver his testimony for God and for righteous- 
ness, preparing himself by long vigils, fasts, prayers, 
Savonarola found that his was indeed a voice " crying in 
the wilderness ; " and he must often have asked whether 
some clearer and higher guidance might not be vouch- 
safed from on high to one who so truly desired and 
labored to win back this people to Christ. In two things 
he never wavered, — in his faith in God, and in his con- 
sciousness of a divine mission. He knew the righteous- 
ness of God and the love of God. He was sure that 
such a Being could not look with complacency upon the 
corruptions of Florence, of Italy, of the world and the 
Church. It must be His will not to destroy these erring 
children, but to bring them back to Himself, — to bring 
them back by loving and gentle ways, if that could 
be done ; if otherwise, by chastisements and suffer- 
ings. And what was his own part in this work, arid 
how could he accomphsh it? If he alone were left of 
the prophets of the Lord, he must not shrink from his 
mission. 

Then he turned to the Bible, which was now, more 
and more, his constant, almost his exclusive companion, 
and he found in the condition of Israel of old a picture 
of that which was passing around him in the Christian 
Church, and in the voices of the prophets those very 
warnings which were forming themselves within his own 
heart and striving for utterance on his tongue. If God 
spoke to His servants then, why should He not speak 



THE BROTHER OF ST. MARK'S. 69 

now? The need could never have been greater, more 
urgent ; the perplexities of the age could never have 
been more involved. What could man do in such a 
case? Must not God speak? 

At last the vision came. One day the heavens seemed 
to open before him, and there appeared a representation 
of the future calamities of the Church. At the same 
time a voice was heard commanding him to go and 
proclaim these things to the people. At last he had 
obtained the guidance for which he had been waiting, 
the command which he had no right and no power to 
disobey. He had seen a vision which told him that 
the Church was to be chastised and reformed, and he 
was ready to go forth, like the Baptist of old, and cry, 
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand !" 
" Now also " — the words seem to express exactly what 
was passing in his mind, what he believed he was re- 
ceiving from God — " the axe is laid unto the root of 
the trees : therefore every tree which bringeth not forth 
good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." 

This was in the year 1484. It must almost have 
seemed as though Divine Providence were preparing 
for a change in the state of the Church ; for in this very 
year Sixtus IV. died. Surely there must be a change for 
the better. We have already heard what the change was. 
Sixtus was succeeded by Innocent VIII. The hopes 
that were excited by the death of his predecessor were 
now abandoned. The Papacy, at least, would give no 
help in the reformation of the Church. 

Whether because of his failure in Florence, or for 
some other reason, Savonarola Avas sent on the two 
following Lents (1484 and 1485) to preach at San 
Geminiano, a small town in the mountains of Siena. 



70 SAVONAROLA. 

In those days a place of greater importance than at 
present, San Geminiano was found to contain a popu- 
lation more open to impressions such as Savonarola 
wished to produce. It may have been for this reason 
in part, but doubtless also, and far more, in consequence 
of the new convictions -which had been wrought within 
him, that he now began to announce, as with prophetic 
voice, the three points which were henceforth to be the 
great subject of his preaching. That he did already 
believe them to be the subject of revelation to his own 
spirit, there can be no doubt ; although for the jDresent 
he was contented to declare them as deductions from 
the Bible, regarding his hearers as not yet ready to re- 
ceive them as the echoes of the voice of God. The 
three statements which he now for the first time clearly 
set forth were the following : — 

1. That the Church will be scourged, 

2. And then renovated ; 

3. And this will be soon.^ 

It appears that he obtained a hearing from these 
mountaineers which had not hitherto been accorded 
to him ; and when he returned to Florence, it was 
with the conviction deepened that he was now walk- 
ing in the path marked out for him by the provi- 
dence and grace of God. 

But his first period of residence at Florence was 
drawing to a close, and he was now to leave it for 
four years. These four years form a very obscure part 
of his history ; but we can trace his life and his work 
at various points during that period of time. Of his 
thoughts at this time we know little ; only we are sure 
that a great part of his solitary hours was spent in 

1 La Chiesa sark flagellata, e poi rinnovata ; e ci6 sara presto. 



THE BROTHER OF ST. MARK'S. 7 1 

meditating upon the evils of the age and upon the 
work which it was given him to perform ; and we know 
that this consciousness of his work was ever and anon 
breaking out in his public utterances. 

It is at Brescia that we first meet with him (i486), 
and now expounding the Apocalypse. From this time 
we must date his plain and open announcement of 
the evils coming upon Italy, and the powerful effects 
of his words. Visions now seem to multiply, and he 
is no longer, in his own consciousness at least, a mere 
expositor of the written word; he is, in some sense, 
a prophet sent by God, proclaiming his warnings and 
counsels with the tone of one who can say, " Thus 
saith the Lord." 

It may be expected that something should be said 
on the nature of these visions and revelations ; but 
history refuses to give a decisive explanation of ques- 
tions like these. Who can tell when a gracious illu- 
mination passes into a supernatural guidance? Who 
can tell when the perception of the thoughts and des- 
tinies of men arises from a devout meditation on Holy 
Scripture and an earnest contemplation of the ways 
and works of men and of nations, and when it is 
given by direct revelation from God? How uncertain 
the Frate himself felt about this line of division we 
shall have occasion to see hereafter. It may here be 
said, once for all, that we make no pretension to solve 
these mysteries. Of one thing only we are sure, that 
Savonarola was profoundly convinced of the reality of 
his visions, that he believed he was speaking in the 
name of the Lord, that he was prepared to suffer even 
death itself in vindication of his testimony, and that, 
before long, he saw clearly enough that this was the 



72 SAVONAROLA. 

probable end of the work to which he felt himself 
called. 

At Brescia, as we have said, he began to expound 
the Apocalypse, and this with special reference to 
Brescia itself. One of the four and twenty elders 
mentioned in that book, he declared,^ had come to 
him, and had foretold the terrible calamities that were 
in store for this city. It was to become a prey to its 
enemies ; wives were to be snatched away from their 
husbands, and virgins were to be violated ; children 
would be slain before the eyes of their mothers, and 
the streets would flow with blood. His words were 
not forgotten ; and when, six and twenty years after- 
wards, the city was sacked by the soldiers of Gaston 
de Foix, and six thousand of its inhabitants perished, 
it was believed by many that the prophecy of Fra 
Girolamo was being fulfilled. 

From this time he seemed to be assured, not only 
of his mission, but of the divine communications which 
he received respecting the future of the Church. He 
told his friend and biographer, the younger Pico della 
Mirandola, that on one occasion, while meditating on 
the text, Bonus es Tu, et in bonitate Tua doce me j'usti- 
ficationes Tuas, — " Blessed art Thou, O Lord : teach 
me Thy statutes," ^ he felt his mind illuminated, and 
all doubts left him, and he felt more certainty of the 
things that were shown to him than a philosopher did 
of first principles.® 

1 Burlamacchi states that this was related to the brethren of 
St. Mark's in 1520 by the Prior of Brescia, who had heard the 
sermon in which Savonarola announced these future calamities. 

2 Ps, cxix. 12. 

* Burlamacchi, p. 22. 



THE BROTHER OF ST. MARK'S. 73 

It was not Savonarola alone who received these con- 
victions during his residence at Brescia. Razzi relates 
that a lady wrote to the Frate, announcing that she 
had received a revelation of his future history ; but he, 
regarding her communication as a device of the devil, 
threw the letter into the fire. It is further related by 
his biogi'aphers ^ that, on Christmas Eve in this year, 
he remained immovable for five hours, in an ecstasy, 
and that his face shone so as to illuminate the whole 
church ; and this, it is said, occurred several times. 

Shortly afterwards we find him at Reggio, still ab- 
sorbed in those great thoughts of the reformation and 
renovation of the Church and the world. A chapter 
of Dominicans was assembled for the consideration of 
questions of theology and of discipline. While points 
of casuistry were being discussed, Savonarola sat silent 
and, as it seemed, wrapped in his own meditations, his 
monk's cowl drawn over his wrinkled forehead. In 
mere theoretical disputations which tended to foster 
curiosity and dialectical subtlety, he took no interest. 
When, however, they turned to the question of manners 
and discipline, then the prophet of Brescia arose, and 
in the midst of the assembled clergy and laity who had 
come to take part in the deliberations of the meeting, 
he spoke those words which had already moved the 
hearts of men when uttered from the pulpit. It was 
like a thunderbolt falling in the midst of them, and 
they sat as though transfixed with astonishment. He 
spoke of the evils of the Church, but still more earnestly 
of the fearful corruption of the clergy as the fountain 
from which those evils flowed. Clergy and laity were 

1 On the testimony of a brother, called by some Sebastiano, 

by others Angelo. 



74 SAVONAROLA. 

alike impressed by his words. The fame of his power 
spread throughout Northern Italy, and many princes and 
others, who had begun to see the necessity for reform, 
entered into correspondence with the man who had 
given such distinct and powerful utterance to their own 
reflections. 

^f^kxnor\g the laymen who were present at the confer- 
ence was one who bore a distinguished name, whose 
friendship was once and forever secured for the Frate by 
the impressions which he then received from his words. 
This was the elder Pico della Mirandola, the intimate 
friend of Lorenzo de' Medici, then only twenty-three 
years of age. Savonarola, it will be remembered, was 
thirty-four, and Lorenzo four years older, — thirty-eight. 
This Giovanni Pico della Mirandola was the uncle of 
that Giovanni Francesco Pico della Mirandola who was 
afterwards the friend and subsequently the biographer of 
Savonarola. 

It was indeed a remarkable conquest in many ways. 
It was, so to speak, the first point at which the Frate 
had touched the men of the new learning. It was a 
victory where one could be least expected. Pico was 
one of the most refined and cultivated men of his age, 
one of those who took the greatest delight in the intel- 
lectual subtleties which Savonarola had already learnt 
to despise. He did not despise them because he had 
a mind incapable of discerning them. Perhaps it was 
the sense of their attraction for him, together with his 
conviction of their utter worthlessness, that made him 
turn from them almost with indignation. What things 
had been gain to him, these he now " counted loss for 
Christ." 

It was perhaps the sense of these twofold elements 



THE BROTHER OF ST. MARK'S. 75 

in his spirit that was the secret of the fascination he 
immediately exercised over Pico. This illustrious man, 
even in his youth — and he did not live to be an old 
man — was reckoned the marvel of his age. His 
knowledge of Latin was not perhaps wonderful : it was 
the literary language of his time and of his country. 
Greek, too, had begun to be extensively and profoundly 
studied. It is said that he knew both languages as well 
as his own. But he had also studied Oriental languages 
with success, — a much more rare accomplishment ; and 
he was an expert logician and a well-read philosopher. 
It is Ukely enough that the charge of shallowness which 
was brought against him was well founded. Few men 
can play the part of an Admirable Crichton without 
some compensating disadvantages. Still, he was a man 
of prodigious attainments, of an unresting activity, with 
a memory the most retentive ; adding to all a simplicity 
and unworldliness which were rare among scholars, and 
a grace and vivacity which attracted and fascinated every 
one who came within the sphere of his influence. 

This was the man, distinguished beyond all who were 
present at this conference, into whose heart the words 
of Savonarola now fell with an irresistible power. From 
that moment Pico " felt," says Burlamacchi, " as if he 
could not live without him ; " and it appears he lost no 
time in giving effect to his new sentiments, for he shortly 
after sought to induce Lorenzo de' Medici to have the 
Frate recalled to Florence and San Marco. This re- 
quest of Pico, the same writer tells us, Lorenzo imme- 
diately complied with, because " he was much loved by 
him." The feelings now engendered in the heart of 
Pico towards his new friend were never extinguished. 
It was only his premature death, as we shall see in the 



76 SAVONAROLA. 

sequel of our narrative, that prevented his entering the 
Dominican convent ; and it was his last request that he 
might be buried within its walls, in the habit of the 
order. 

Savonarola did not return to Florence for three years 
after this meeting. He had still work to do in Lom- 
bardy. His course we are able to trace only somewhat 
indistinctly. In July, 1489, we find him in his first 
convent at Bologna, where they wish him to undertake 
his old office of Lettore. On Christmas Day, in the 
same year, he is again at Brescia. In the following 
January he is at Pavia; and he preached the Lent 
sermons at Genoa shortly afterwards. These bare facts 
have been recently made out, but nothing more is 
known of his work or its effect. As we were told that 
when he left Ferrara for Florence, eight years before, he 
then bid a last farewell to his home, we may infer that 
he did not renew his intercourse with his family during 
these journeys. It was not that he forgot his parents or 
was destitute of natural affection. Before he left Pavia, 
on the 25th of January, 1490, he wrote a long and affec- 
tionate letter to his mother, regretting that his religious 
profession prevented his helping them in future other- 
wise than by his prayers. Although he could no longer 
see them face to face, he told them that he sympathized 
with them in all their joys and sorrows ; but he had for- 
ever renounced the world, and given himself to labor in 
the vineyard of the I^ord, for the salvation of his own 
soul and the souls of others. If God had given him 
this power, it must be his duty to use it ; and since he 
was chosen to this holy office, his mother must be con- 
tented to see him exercise it away from his native place, 
because he would have more fruit elsewhere than at 



THE BROTHER OF ST. MARK'S. 77 

Ferrara. And then he uses the language already quoted. 
"Be assured," he concludes, "that my heart is still 
more firm in its purpose to give up all for the love of 
God and the salvation of my neighbors ; and since I 
could not do this in my own native place, I must do it 
elsewhere." He had "forsaken all " and taken up his 
cross, and he would not lay it down for a moment. 

Although it is distinctly stated by his biographers that 
Lorenzo de' Medici did, in accordance with the request 
of Pico, at once invite Savonarola to return to Florence, 
some doubts have been suggested on the subject by 
M. Perrens, on the ground that he did not receive a 
call from the Prior of San Marco until July, 1489, and 
did not actually return to Florence until August, 1490. 
Such a theory, entirely unsupported by testimony, would 
need stronger arguments to render it credible. It is 
possible that the invitation of Lorenzo, who on account 
of his father's and his own munificence to the convent 
regarded himself as almost its proprietor, or at least its 
patron, may have seemed to Savonarola no sufficient 
reason for a monk's adopting a particular society as his 
own. Even if at that time the prior joined in the invi- 
tation, Savonarola may have formed engagements which 
required his continued residence in Lombardy. What- 
ever the reason may have been, we find he did not 
return to Florence until a whole year after the prior had 
invited him to do so. 

But Perrens adds a suggestion still more improbable. 
Lorenzo, he thinks, had refused to comply with Pico's 
request because he did not wish to have the Frate in 
Florence again ; and Savonarola resented his back- 
wardness. This, he imagines, was the beginning of his 
antipathy to the Magnificent ! Such a theory is quite 



78 SAVONAROLA. 

inconsistent with the whole facts of the case, and it is 
inconsistent with tlie view which the French biographer 
himself gives of the character and conduct of Savonarola. 
Lorenzo never showed the slightest disposition to keep 
Savonarola at a distance. The Frate, in shunning all 
intercourse with the Medici, was only acting as the boy 
had done at Ferrara. The disciple of Him who was 
" not of the world," and who told His disciples that 
they were not of the world, stood in need of no personal 
affront to make him careful to avoid the appearance of 
the slightest compliance with the most refined and 
inveterate worldliness which perhaps Christendom had 
ever seen. 

It is related that he accomplished the journey from 
Genoa to Florence on foot, but that his strength was 
unequal to the journey, and failed him near Bologna. 
From that point, it is told, he received supernatural 
assistance, which was continued to him until he came 
to the gate of San Gallo. Be this as it may, he reached 
Florence in the year 1490, and from this point we are 
able to trace his history continuously and without inter- 
ruption to its close. We must now make a brief pause, 
and try to understand his position and circumstances 
in this new and most important stage of his career. 



FLORENCE AND THE MEDICI. 79 



CHAPTER V. 

FLORENCE AND THE MEDICI. 

There are names which carry with them something 
of a charm. We have but to say " Athens ! " and all 
the great deeds of antiquity break upon our hearts like 
a sudden gleam of sunshine ; " Florence ! " and the 
magnificence and passionate agitation of Italy's prime 
sends forth its fragrance towards us like blossom-laden 
boughs, from whose dusky shadows we catch whispers 
of the beautiful tongue. 

Athens was the first city of Greece, — rich, powerful, 
with a policy which extended almost over the entire 
world of that age. Florence, however, in her fairest 
days, was never the first city of Italy, and in no respect 
possessed extraordinary advantages. She does not lie 
on the sea, and the Arno has never been navigable. 
The situation of Naples is more beautiful, that of Genoa 
more royal, Rome is richer in treasures of art, Venice 
possessed a greater political power ; and yet, notwith- 
standing, all that happened in Italy between 1250 and 
1530 is colorless when placed side by side with the 
history of this one city. Her internal life surpasses in 
splendor the efforts of the others at home and abroad. 
The events through the intricacies of which she worked 
her way with vigorous determination, and the men whom 
she produced, raise her fame above that of the whole 



8o SAVONAROLA. 

of Italy, and place Florence as a younger sister by the 
side of Athens.^ 

The origin of Florence is lost in obscurity, and its 
early history is mingled with fable.^ Machiavelli, fol- 
lowing Dante and Villani, tells us that the city of Fiesole, 
being situated on the summit of the mountain, the in- 
habitants, in order to make its markets more convenient, 
had removed them to the spot between the roots of the 
mountain and the river Arno. By degrees this settle- 
ment, which is said to have originally borne the name 
of Villa Arnina or Camarzo, was greatly augmented, — 
among others by the soldiers of Sulla, and afterwards by 
those of Caesar, who were stationed there. 

The origin of its name, Florentia, — afterwards and 
still called Firenze — has been disputed ; some thinking 
that it was originally Fluentia, others that it was derived 
from the fact that the valley in which the city stands is 
richly covered with flowers. It would appear at least 
that the Florentines themselves inclined to this opinion, 
since they gave their cathedral church the name of 
Santa Maria del Fiore. The lily, too, is painted on the 
shield of the republic and on the banner of Santa 
Reparata, the patron saint of Florence, who gave its 
name to the church which formerly stood on the site 
of the cathedral. 

Cicero and Sallust both speak of the wealth of the 
Florentines ; and Tacitus relates that in the reign of 

1 These paragraphs are condensed from chap. i. of Grimm's 
Life of Michael Angelo. 

2 On the general subject of this chapter see Machiavelli, Istorie 
Florentine ; Sismondi, Republiques Italiennes ; and G. Capponi, 
Storia della Repubblica di Firenze. A very full account is given 
in the Misses Horner's Walks in Florence. 



FLORENCE AND THE MEDICI, 8 1 

the Emperor Tiberius (a.d. 17) a Florentine embassy- 
came to Rome to petition the Senate that the waters 
of the Chiana — Tacitus calls it Clanis — should not be 
allowed to flow into the Arno, which, they said, would 
bring destruction upon them. 

When the Empire fell, Tuscany, like the other prov- 
inces of Italy, became subject to the Goths. It is said 
that a horde of these barbarians attacked the city, A. d. 
405, under a leader called Radagasius, but were defeated 
by the Roman general, Stilicho. This battle was fought 
on the 8th of October, the feast of Santa Reparata, — a 
young Cappadocian martyr who was put to death at 
the age of twelve. It was reported that she appeared 
in the thick of the battle, bearing a red banner in her 
hand, on which was emblazoned the lily, — the emblem of 
the Blessed Virgin. Hence the Florentine devotion to 
this saint, whose festival they continued to celebrate in 
memory of that day ; hence the adoption of her banner 
as the shield of the republic, and the dedication to her 
memory of that which was formerly their principal church. 
The story of the destruction of the city by Totila, and 
its subsequent reconstruction by Charles the Great, is a 
fable. 

Florence had bishops in the fourth century ; and to- 
wards the end of this period the most distinguished 
among them was Zenobis, or Zanobius, in whose time 
Saint Ambrose, who was a friend of his, is said to have 
come to Florence and consecrated the church of San 
Lorenzo.-* It was believed that the appearance of Santa 
Reparata was an answer to the prayers of Zanobius, who 
was then bishop. Slowly the city went on increasing, 

1 This is what Capponi says. Miss Horner says he conse- 
crated Zanobius bishop in the church of San Lorenzo. 

6 



82 SAVONAROLA. 

Stretching out towards Fiesole, until about the year looo 
the inhabitants of the two cities had become one people, 
when they decided to unite their armorial bearings, mak- 
ing them red and white : the red with a white lily being 
the ancient arms of Florence, and the white with an 
azure moon the arms of Fiesole. There is no truth in 
the story that Fiesole became subject to Florence by 
conquest. 

In the wars between the Empire and the Papacy Flor- 
ence was deeply implicated, and was driven by her un- 
dying love of liberty to devote herself ardently to the 
side of the Pope. Such a statement may seem extra- 
ordinary and unintelligible to ourselves in these days, 
but it is notwithstanding susceptible of easy explanation. 
In the conflict with the Emperors, the Popes when driven 
from Rome not infrequently came to reside at Florence, 
and Victor II. died there in 1057; but the reason for 
the espousal of the papal cause by the Florentines lies 
deeper. It is easy to understand the point of view of 
either party in this long-standing quarrel. From the 
German, or imperial, side, nothing could be more natural 
than the Ghibelline view of the matter. From the Ital- 
ian, or papal, side, the Guelf policy was equally defensi- 
ble. The Florentine leaning in this dispute, however, did 
not arise from any high notions of the papal preroga- 
tives, but from the conviction that only in proportion 
as the Empire, and with it the power of the nobles, 
was held in check, could the liberties of the repubhc 
be established and secured. In illustration of this 
view of the subject, it may be noticed that during the 
ascendency of the aristocracy Florence was generally 
Ghibelline. 

Florence, like Athens, seems to have had, through- 



FLORENCE AND THE MEDICI. 2>2 

out all the days of its greatness, at least, an unquencha- 
ble passion for liberty ; and it owed all its greatness to 
its freedom. It is true that Florence, like other repub- 
lics, was fickle, capricious, wayward, ungrateful ; but the 
free constitution of the city, in spite of all the abuses con- 
nected with its exercise and its history, gave scope to 
industry and rendered possible the development of the 
resources of the city. A man had power not alone or 
chiefly because he bore an honored name, but because 
he actually possessed in himself that vital force which the 
public conscience and the public will were constrained 
to acknowledge. A man was raised to authority because 
he was worthy of authority. It is true that jealousy 
and envy might remove him from his place and drive 
him from the State ; but the commonwealth had profited 
by his services even when it had proved itself in a meas- 
ure unworthy of them. The Florentines knew that the 
aristocratic party were hostile to their liberties and that 
the oligarchy was sustained by the Emperor as suzerain ; 
and therefore they were Guelfs. In the same way Pisa, 
subject to Florence, ever resenting the yoke which it 
was unable to shake off, took sides with its adversaries 
and became Ghibelline. It ought to be mentioned, as an 
important event in the history of the conflict, that Ma- 
tilda, Countess of Tuscany, who held Florence and the 
other cities of that province under the Emperor, warmly 
espoused the cause of the Pope, and placed her wealth 
and her possessions at his service. In the great struggle 
between Gregory VII. (Hildebrand) and the Emperor, 
Florence voluntarily took the same side. At her death 
the countess left to the Roman See the whole of her 
vast territories, which enormously increased the power' 
of the Pope, but naturally embittered the strife between 



84 SAVONAROLA. 

him and the Emperor, who regarded these possessions 
as legitimately falling by reversion to himself. 

From ancient times the Italian cities had ordinarily 
been governed by two consuls, in imitation of their mis- 
tress, Rome ; and about the time of its union with Fie- 
sole, Florence had associated with these one hundred 
senators, chosen from the best men of the State. The 
consuls afterwards varied in number, sometimes being 
as many as twelve ; but they were always chosen from 
the nobility. By degrees — we cannot be quite sure of 
the time ; it was probably about the beginning of the 
thirteenth century — these consuls came to be called 
Consuls of the Arti, or trades ; and here we have the 
germ of that institution which endured, under various 
names, as long as the liberties of Florence endured. 
Sometimes they were called Priors {Priori)^ sometimes 
Buon' uomini (Good men), sometimes Anziani, or An- 
cients, sometimes they numbered four or six, sometimes 
ten, twelve, or twenty-four ; but the general character of 
the office was maintained throughout. 

Amid all the changes in the form of the government 
the Emperor was always, in theory, at least, regarded 
as supreme, however little of actual power might be 
conceded to him. But when, by means of the Lombard 
league, the cities of Italy obtained at the peace of Con- 
stance a local government, there was appointed an officer 
of a very mixed character as regarded both his position 
and his functions. He was named the Podestk, or Po- 
testa, and was, during his term of office, at once the head 
of the State and the representative of the Emperor. 
His powers were both judicial and administrative : he 
had the power of the sword, and he was known as the 
lord of the place. The Emperor originally intended 



FLORENCE AND THE MEDICI. 85 

that this official should be appointed and invested by 
himself; but this prerogative was rarely exercised, and 
eventually fell into disuse, so that the Podestk was 
elected by the citizens. The election was only for a 
year or six months, to prevent the abuse of powers so 
great as those with which he was entrusted. He was 
required to be of a noble family ; and to prevent Jiis 
giving partial judgments, he was never chosen from 
among the citizens, but from another city or country. 
Originally, in Florence, he had his residence at the arch- 
bishop's palace ; afterwards in the palace which bore his 
name, — the Palazzo del Podesta, now known as the 
Bargello ; finally in the Palazzo della Signoria, or Palazzo 
Vecchio. He was supreme over all the other magis- 
trates, and all public acts were performed in his name 
and under his authority. His dress was, like his office, 
peculiar and distinctive. He wore a long robe, white, 
yellow, or formed of cloth of gold ; on his head he wore 
a red cap. 

In 1248, through the influence of Frederick, Prince of 
Antioch, the natural son of the Emperor Frederick II., 
the Guelfs were cast out of Florence, and the Ghibel- 
lines were for a time supreme ; but their triumph was of 
short duration. In 1250 the citizens met together; and 
forming themselves into a number of groups, — reported 
diversely as thirty-six and fifty, — they chose as many 
leaders and captains of a kind of local militia, who 
were also a council of government. In place of the 
Podesta, they elected a Captain of the People, with very 
much the same qualifications and powers ; but they soon 
afterwards restored the Podesta, assigning to him and 
the Captain independent tribunals, so that the one might 
be a check upon the other. They then divided the 



86 SAVONAROLA. 

city into six wards, each ward, sesto or sestiere (sixth), 
as it was called, having over it two anziani (ancients or 
seniors), — twelve in all. These twelve seniors, who were 
elected for the space of two months only, were required 
to live, to eat, and to sleep in the public palace, and 
could only go out together. The collective body was 
called the Signoria. 

We see the government of the republic here assuming 
the shape which, in its general outlines, it retained up 
to the sixteenth century. Capponi divides the history 
of Florence into four periods : i . The heroic stage, 
from 1 183 to 132 1 ; 2. The levelling stage, from 132 1 
to 1382 ; 3 The reactionary, or aristocratic, stage, from 
1382 to 1434; 4. The Medicean, or servile, stage. But 
each of these was characterized by many changes. 
Hardly had the measures just described been adopted, 
when the Guelfs were recalled and the Ghibellines ex- 
pelled. In 1267 (two years, let us remark, after the 
birth of Dante) the names of the twelve magistrates 
were called, as we have said, Buon' uomini. In 12S2 
they are six in number, and are called Priori delle arti ; 
and now they are not the elect of wards, but the repre- 
sentatives of guilds, these arti, or corporations of trades, 
being first three and then six. The six priors, afterwards 
eight, are known as the College of Priors ; and over 
them, ten years later, is placed a Goiifaloniere (standard- 
bearer) of justice, elected, like the priors, for two months 
only. For our present purpose it may be sufficient 
to add that various councils were afterwards formed, 
to whom all laws proposed by the Signoria had to be 
referred before they were finally promulgated ; besides 
two smaller bodies known as the "Ten of War," whose 
name indicates their office, and the Magistracy of Eight 



FLORENCE AND THE MEDICI. 87 

{Otto lii Guardla), who had to try criminal cases, and 
were appointed for a period of four months.-^ 

It may be sufficient further to note here that the 
tendency of Florence was, for many generations, more 
and more to democracy. To such an extent was this 
tendency carried that nobility, instead of being a quali- 
fication, as in former days, became an absolute bar to 
office in the government of the republic ; in consequence 
of which a member of a noble family had to lay aside 
his privileges of nobility before he became qualified for 
election. There were, of course, fluctuations in the 
carrying out of these tendencies. When the citizens 
grew weary of popular turbulence they would throw 
themselves into the arms of a despot, as in the case of 
the Duke of Athens ; but their native love of freedom 
made them speedily throw off the yoke, and there arose 
among them a new nobility, which was likely to prove 
no less dangerous than the old, — a nobility which was 
derived from the trades or professions of Florence, and 
which drew its authority, not from ancient titles, but 
from intelligence, from wealth, and from the influence 
by which they are accompanied. One of these was the 
family of the Medici. 

There had been various names of distinction in this 
family ; but the true founder of its greatness was Gio- 
vanni de' Medici, the father of Cosimo, called Pater 
PatricE, and the great-grandfather of Lorenzo, surnamed 
" the Magnificent." By industry and intelligent enter- 
prise Giovanni acquired enormous wealth ; and this, 
together with his liberaUty and affability, made him one 

^ A detailed account of the changes in the government of 
Florence will be found in Capponi, under the various dates ; a 
good compressed account in Von Reumont, Lorenzo, bk. i. ch. 6. 



88 SAVONAROLA. 

of the most influential men in the city. He left two 
sons. From the younger descended that line of Medi- 
cean Grand Dukes under whom Florence fell so low 
as to forget all her former glory. It is with the 
elder, Cosimo, and his descendants that we have now 
to do. 

Cosimo, born in 1389, was thirty-nine years of age 
at the death of his father in 1429. Before this time, 
however, he had' attained to great influence and au- 
thority. He accompanied John XXIII. to the Council 
of Constance ; and when that Pope was deposed by 
the council, and Martin V. elected, Cosimo redeemed 
him from the Duke of Bavaria, by whom he had been 
detained a prisoner, and gave him a shelter in Florence 
during the remainder of his life. It is perhaps impos- 
sible for us, who remember the evils that the Medici 
have inflicted on Florence, to regard with complacency 
their rise to power in the State. Yet it would be diffi- 
cult to enumerate the attributes of a good citizen 
without including some of the conspicuous excellences 
of Cosimo de' Medici. There is at least a measure 
of truth in Voltaire's remark, that " no family ever ob- 
tained its power by so just a title." 

By degrees Cosimo attained to so great authority in 
the republic that he was practically absolute. The 
executive power was at this time exercised by eight 
priors, and a Gonfaloniere elected every two months ; 
the judicial power was in the hands of officers, aliens 
to the State, bearing the names of Podesta and Captain 
of the People, chosen once a year ; and while Cosimo 
had sufficient influence to procure the election of ma- 
gistrates who were willing to give effect to his washes, 
he was at the same time careful to preserve the forms 



FLORENCE AND THE MEDICI. 89 

to which the citizens had been accustomed. While, 
therefore, the hberties of the people were being gradu- 
ally but steadily undermined, this was carried on with- 
out any suspicion being excited that they were parting 
with their birthright. It was by a kind of true instinct 
that they entitled Cosimo the father of his country ; 
but they did not reflect that " paternal government," 
which in the family is the only allowable method, has 
a tendency to weaken and enslave a nation. 

Whether animated by sentiments of patriotism or by 
feelings of personal jealousy and enmity, there was a 
party in the city which could not regard the influence 
of the Medici with indifference or equanimity ; and a 
Signoria, or body of magistrates (comprehending the 
priors and the Gonfaloniere), was elected in opposition 
to them (1433). Rinaldo degli Albizzi, the leader of 
this opposition, obtained from the new magistracy a 
decree sentencing the Medici and their adherents to 
banishment. Cosimo was exiled to Padua for ten 
years. It was feared, however, that his enemies, who 
had put him in prison, might make an attempt on his 
life ; and Cosimo provided for his safety by bribing 
his keepers, and so secured his escape. During his 
exile, it may be mentioned, he made the acquaintance 
of that Michelozzo Michelozzi whom he was afterwards 
to employ in the reconstruction of St. Mark's. 

Everywhere he was received and entertained as if 
he had been a prince on his travels, rather than a citi- 
zen banished from his home. Partly through his own 
patient fortitude, partly through the indecent violence 
of his enemies, a reaction soon took place in Florence ; 
and before a year had elapsed from the time of his 
departure, a magistracy friendly to the Medici was 



90 SAVONAROLA. 

appointed, and Cosimo and his brother were recalled, 
and their opponents driven into exile. 

When Cosimo returned to Florence, although he did 
not spare his foes, he showed no resentment towards 
the citizens, but proceeded to multiply his benefactions 
to every useful object. Among these he gave a promi- 
nent place to the advancement of learning, It has 
been said that Cosimo was merciful to his enemies. 
The truth, however, is that he took care to preserve the 
forms of law while driving numbers of them. into banish- 
ment.-^ We have referred to his munificence in being 
the second founder of San Marco and in having pro- 
vided it with a library ; but he may indirectly have for- 
warded a still greater work than this. The man whom 
he selected to assist in the arrangement of the library 
left by Niccolo Niccoli, and presented by Cosimo to the 
Dominicans of San Marco, was Tomaso Calandrino, the 
son of a poor physician of Sarzana. Within a few years 
this Thomas of Sarzana, as Pope Nicholas V., was to 
begin the formation of the great library of the Vatican. 

While Cosimo was thus wisely and hberally, out of 
his princely fortune, promoting special works of utility, 
he was not only interesting himself in the government 
of the State, but he was effectually promoting the spread 
of learning, and especially the study of the Greek lan- 
guage, which, after being revived in the days of Petrarch 
and Boccaccio, had begun to languish. Among those 
whose studies he encouraged and assisted was Marsilio 

1 When remonstrated with on account of the numbers ban- 
ished, and told that the city would be wasted (guasta), he 
replied : Meglio giiasta cJie perduta, — " Better wasted than 
lost." Under his bland courtesy there was fixed and ruthless 
determination. 



FLORENCE AND THE MEDICI. 9 1 

Ficino, the son of his favorite physician, whom he 
appointed over the academy which he established at 
Florence for the study of the Platonic philosophy. It 
was under his patronage that Ficino commenced the 
translations of Plato which he was enabled afterwards 
to publish by the liberality of Lorenzo. 

Cosimo died at the age of seventy-five, in 1465. He 
was full of honors as of years ; but his last days were 
not unclouded with anxieties. His younger son, Gio- 
vanni, of whom he had entertained the highest expecta- 
tions, died before him; and Piero, who had married 
a daughter of the house of Tornabuoni, had not in- 
herited the genius of his family. Piero's eldest son, 
Lorenzo, was only sixteen at the time of his grand- 
father's death; and although he had given promise 
of remarkable powers, his youth rendered any calcula- 
tions respecting the future very uncertain. Indeed, 
Cosimo never seems to have felt very confident with 
regard to the fortunes of his family. When he was 
adorning Florence by building palaces, churches, mon- 
asteries, he used to say : " I know the humors of this 
city," — he had had some experience of them in this 
very way, — " fifty years will not pass before we are 
driven out of it; but the buildings will remain." 
" Words as wise as they were magnanimous," says Cap- 
poni,^ '*and a good foundation for the greatness of 
his house." 

Piero lived only five years after the death of his 
father ; and it was well, perhaps, for his house that it 
had not longer to suffer from his weakness and incapa- 
city.^ Well, also, it was for Lorenzo that his mother 

^ Lib. V. c. 3. 

2 Von Reumont has, however, shown that Piero was not so 



92 SAVONAROLA. 

was Lucrezia Tornabuoni, — one who was able to form 
his young mind, and to impress upon it a stamp which 
it never lost. Next to her influence was- that of his 
tutor, his father's friend and protege, Marsilio Ficino. 
Of this man it is necessary to say something, not only 
because of his part in forming the opinions and char- 
acter of Lorenzo, but also on account of his place in 
the great intellectual movement of those times. 

The great Schoolmen of the Middle Ages had been 
almost entirely under the influence of Aristotle; but 
the revived study of Plato in the East was speedily 
transferred to the West, and was the signal for fierce 
controversies between the adherents of the two schools. 
Men like the elder Pico might attempt a reconciliation 
between them ; but history will have taught us the fruit- 
lessness of such attempts, and will enable us to under- 
stand that the champions of orthodoxy, with Saint 
Thomas at their head, were generally Aristotelians, 
while the followers of Plato were frequently tainted 
with latitudinarianism, or even heresy. It was the inten- 
tion and chief endeavor of Ficino, not merely to teach 
the Platonic philosophy, but to show its accordance 
with Christianity. His thoughts on the subject will be 
better conveyed by a slight description of a short treatise 
which he wrote, " On the Christian Religion." ^ 

He sets forth with the intention of proving the Divine 
mission of Christ and the truth of His doctrine ; and 
by way of introducing this theme he remarks that the 
coming of Christ had been many times prophesied by 

contemptible as he has been represented. He was an affection- 
ate parent and friend, and a gentle and merciful ruler (Life of 
Lorenzo, bk. ii. ch 4), 

1 Delia religioiie Cristiana (Fiorenza, 1568) ; cf. Villari, i. 4, 



FLORENCE AND THE MEDICI. 93 

the Sibyls : the famous verses of Virgil are known to 
all. Plato, when he was asked how long the precepts 
of his philosophy would endure, had replied, " Only 
until He shall come who shall open the fountain of all 
truth ; " and Porphyry had said that the gods pro- 
nounced Christ supremely pious and religious, and 
declared that He was immortal, testifying very benig- 
nantly of Him {inolto benignamente testificando di lui). 
It would not, perhaps, be quite fair to judge of the 
author's own most inward sentiments from arguments 
such as these, as it may be answered that he was here 
only addressing himself to Platonists, and commending 
to their acceptance the religion of Christ ; but it is, in 
fact, much nearer the truth to say that he cared more 
for Platonism than for Christianity, and sought to jfind 
disciples for his master by conciliating those who from 
the side of the Church looked upon his system with 
suspicion. We can understand, when we reflect on 
tendencies like these, how Savonarola revolted from this 
Platonism, and turned with ever-deepening affection and 
reverence to his Bible. He saw clearly that the aim of 
the great promoters of the new learning in Florence was 
not to strengthen, or even to broaden, the Christian 
doctrine and system, but to undermine it. They Plato- 
nized the Gospel, and they professed to Christianize 
Platonism ; but the result was simply a refined heathen- 
ism adorned witli Christian phrases and sent forth with 
a Christian sanction. 

Among the hearers of Ficino were Angelo Poliziano 
and the elder Pico, as well as Lorenzo. The friendship 
between Ficino and Cosimo was of the most intimate 
character. " Come to me as quickly as possible," 
writes the latter from his villa at Careggi, " and bring 



94 SAVONAROLA. 

with you our Plato's treatise on the Summum Bonum, 
which you have now translated, I believe, according to 
your promise, from Greek into Latin." " Nobody," says 
Ficino, " was ever dearer to me than the great Cosimo ;" 
and writing to Lorenzo, after his father's death, he says : 
" When we had thus read together, as you well know, 
for you were present, Plato's treatise on the Summum 
Bonum, Cosimo died soon after, as if to enter on the 
abundant possession of that good of which he had tasted 
in discussion." -^ It is the same spirit of paganism which 
pervades all his thoughts and his life. He had a bust 
of Plato in his chamber, and a lamp continually burning 
before it. Pie considered that the character of Socrates 
was a foreshadowing of that of Christ, and wished that 
the Platonic philosophy were taught in churches. This 
is the man and these are the principles under the influ- 
ence of which Lorenzo grew up to manhood. 

The work of suppressing and exterminating the ene- 
mies of his house had been so thoroughly carried out by 
Cosimo that, in spite of the feeble government of Piero, 
and the youth of his two sons, — Lorenzo was only one 
and twenty, and Giuliano only sixteen, at the time of 
their father's death, — they succeeded at once to the 
authority of their family in the government of Florence 
and the administration of its affairs. It is to Lorenzo 
that we are now to look as the guiding spirit in the 
republic ; and we cannot understand the attitude as- 
sumed towards him by Savonarola, unless we first obtain 
a fairly clear notion of his character and designs. Few 
can be unaware that opinions on this subject the most 
diverse have been and perhaps still are entertained by 
different writers on this period of history. According to 

1 C£. Harford's Life of Michael Angelo, ch. iv. 



FLORENCE AND THE MEDICI. 95 

Roscoe and writers of his school, Lorenzo, if not fault- 
less, was at least a great, an enlightened, and a benig- 
nant ruler, the patron of literature and art, and the 
benefactor of the republic. Such a man could be 
opposed only by the factious, the turbulent, or the 
selfish. According to others, he was a crafty tyrant, 
seeking by every means, however unscrupulous, to gain 
power and popularity ; preserving the appearance of 
liberty to Florence only that he might the more effectu- 
ally enslave it ; pampering every evil appetite of its 
citizens, that he might secure their support and destroy 
their power of resistance. Either side must have some- 
thing to say for itself; and if the worshippers of Lorenzo 
are absurd and irrational in their idolatry, it is possible 
that his enemies do not take sufficient account of the 
corruption of the age in which he lived. It may be 
granted on behalf of the former that Lorenzo did much 
for Florence and its people ; but it is equally certain 
that he made no stand against the evils which were 
slowly bringing the city to ruin, that he probably cared 
little for the deterioration which was going on around 
him, and that he used it for his own purposes. The 
more convincing are the proofs of his abilities and ac- 
comphshments, the more heavy must be his condemna- 
tion for having failed to use them for the true well-being 
of Florence. 

There can be no doubt that Lorenzo the Magnificent 
was a man of varied accomplishments and of consider- 
able attractiveness of manner. In stature he was above 
the middle size, and he was strongly built and robust. 
He had a dark complexion, weak sight, a harsh and 
nasal voice, a large mouth, and a nose which, like that 
of his great contemporary, Michael Angelo, had suffered 



96 SAVONAROLA. 

an injury which disfigured it. For this reason, perhaps, 
he had lost all sense of smell. But his eye was bright 
and penetrating, his forehead lofty, and his inanners 
pecuHarly cultivated and graceful. In conversation he 
showed himself well-informed, ingenious, and vivacious ; 
and he exercised a remarkable fascination over all who 
were admitted to intimacy with him. The effects of his 
eloquence on public auditories were on several occasions 
very considerable. In morals he was the reflection of 
his own age ; to the pleasures which he encouraged 
among the Florentines he was, in no moderate degree, 
himself addicted. 

There was, indeed, in the social life of Florence at 
this time a very remarkable combination of character- 
istics. If literature had degenerated, the age could still 
produce writers like Machiavelli and Guicciardini ; but 
painting had entered upon a new, and its greatest era, 
and architecture was asserting a place beside the sister 
art. With all this, morality had sunk to its lowest ebb. 
It had become a subject for animated discussion and 
controversy, but it had ceased to be regarded as having 
a right to regulate men's lives. It was not that the 
principles of the Christian faith or its rules of life were 
contradicted or denied, they were simply ignored or 
refined away. If men did not deny the religion of the 
gospel, or express their doubts of its reality, it was be- 
cause they were too indifferent as to the truth or false- 
hood of its claims. 

Lorenzo de' Medici was essentially a man of his age. 
In himself, in his own character and life, he represented 
its contradictions, and he did his best to foster the worst 
side of the popular taste. His gracious manners did 
not proceed from a generous spirit, they were the re- 



FLORENCE AND THE MEDICI. 97 

suit of training. He had inherited from his grandfather 
the politic sense which enabled him to discern what was 
most captivating to the mob ; and even his encourage- 
ment of learning did not proceed entirely from enthu- 
siasm for the spread of knowledge and truth, but was 
rather a means of amusement or a measure of policy. 
The strange contrasts in Lorenzo's life are hardly intel- 
ligible to ourselves. He was equally at home in the 
Platonic assembly, disputing on the nature of virtue ; in 
the society of artists, discussing the theory of beauty 
and its exemplification in the creations of the Italian 
painters and sculptors ; in the gardens of San Marco, 
contemplating with satisfaction his own work in advan- 
cing at once the fine arts and the interests of religion ; 
and in the Carnival, joining in the wildest orgies of its 
votaries. 

If testimony seem insufficient to verify the last state- 
ment, there is additional confirmation in his encourage- 
ment of this festival, and in his actually having written 
songs to be used in its celebration. Of these celebrated 
Songs for the Carnival {Canti Carnascialeschi) , which 
were an invention of his own, and which were sung by 
the young nobles in their masquerades throughout the 
city, we need only say that they are so coarse and ob- 
scene that they could not now be read in any society 
without being regarded as an offence against ordinary 
decency. It is difficult to say whether he did more 
mischief by the destruction of liberty or by the encour- 
agement of immorality. 

" It is impossible," says Sismondi, " to place him in the 
rank of the greatest men of whom Italy boasts. Such 
honor is reserved for those who, superior to personal in- 
terests, secure by the labor of their life the peace, the 

7 



98 SAVONAROLA. 

glory, or the liberty of their country. Lorenzo, on the 
contrary, habitually pursued a selfish policy ; he sustained 
by bloody executions a usurped power : he every day 
added to the weight of a yoke detested by a free city ; he 
deprived the legitimate magistrates of the authority as- 
signed to them by the constitution ; and he excluded his 
fellow-citizens from that political career in which, before 
his time, they had developed so much talent. We shall 
see," he adds, "in the sequel of this history the fatal con- 
sequences of his ambition and of the overthrow of the 
national institutions " ^ 

In this extract there is an allusion to the sacrifice of 
human life on the part of Lorenzo ; and there is one 
instance of this kind of cruelty which must not be left 
unnoticed, on account of its connection with our story. 
We refer to the sack of Volterra. This was one of the 
subject-towns of Florence, which, in the year 1466, re- 
volted, in consequence of the rapacity of Lorenzo him- 
self.^ Many of the Florentines were inclined to try 
gentle measures, and would have extended pardon to 
the offenders ; but Lorenzo, then only eighteen years of 
age, in a spirit which reminds us of his grandfather's 
" better that the city should be wasted than lost," pro- 
nounced in favor of recovering and holding it by the 
sword. This decision, sufficiently criminal in itself, led 
to others even more so. The Venetians having secretly 
favored the rebellion of Volterra, the work of subjuga- 
tion became more difficult, and this again involved a 
considerable outlay of money. In order to meet the 
expense incurred, a sum of 100,000 florins was with- 
drawn from the Monte delle Doti^ (Dowry Bank), — a 

1 Repub. Ital., xi. 369. ^ cf. Capponi, lib. v. c. 5. 

8 Called also Monte delle FanciuUe. Monte was the word used 
in Florence for a bank. 



FLORENCE AND THE MEDICI. 



99 



fund instituted for providing portions for orphan girls at 
their marriage, — in consequence of which numbers of 
girls, thus deprived of their dower, abandoned them- 
selves to an evil life. Yet Lorenzo took credit for this 
act, as having saved the expedition.^ During the siege 
of Volterra it was promised to the inhabitants that their 
lives and property should be respected on condition of 
their surrendering. In spite of this assurance, when the 
Florentine army entered the gates the city was sacked, 
the churches plundered, the men taken prisoners, and 
the women ravished. There is reason to believe that 
these atrocities were perpetrated with the sanction of 
Lorenzo. 

The conspiracy of the Pazzi, already mentioned, will 
show that the tyranny of the Medici was not acquiesced 
in by all ; but that conspiracy was originated far more 
by personal envy and hatred than by motives of patriot- 
ism, and it was carried out in a manner the least likely 
to engage the sympathies of those who most deeply re- 
sented the tyranny under which the liberties of Florence 
were being destroyed. Its effect was, consequently, and 
quite naturally, to confirm and strengthen the power of 
Lorenzo, who was regarded by his sycophants as a mar- 
tyr, and who availed himself of the opportunity of put- 
ting down all opposition by procuring the death and 
banishment of his enemies. Four years after this con- 
spiracy Savonarola came to Florence. We have re- 
marked on the state of the republic and of the Church 
which he found there ; and we can understand with 
what feelings he regarded the family, and its living and 
ruling representative, through whose influence all that he 
most venerated was set at nought, all that he most de- 

1 See his letter in Capponi. 



I OO SA VONAROLA. 

tested was propagated and supported. It is important 
to bear these facts and considerations in mind while we 
follow the history of the man who began to feel that one 
great part of his mission in Florence must be to show a 
strong, continuous, and unyielding opposition to the 
policy of its virtual ruler, Lorenzo the Magnificent. 



THE PRIOR OF ST. MARK'S AND LORENZO. lOl 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE PRIOR OF ST. MARK'S AND LORENZO THE 
MAGNIFICENT. 

When Savonarola returned to Florence in 1490,^ he 
was not unmindful of his failure as a preacher during 
his previous residence in the city, four years before ; 
and he had no desire again to encounter the cold in- 
difference of his fellow-townsmen. He was accordingly 
reinstated in his office of Lettore, and resumed his work 
of instructing the novices of the convent. But the fame 
of his work in Lombardy had gone before him to 
Florence, and the admiration and affection conceived 
for him by Pico della Mirandola speedily became known. 

In order to meet the wishes of those who desired to 
have the advantage of his instructions, he was forced 
to remove his lectures to the convent garden, where 
they were delivered under a rose-tree which grew near 
the door of a chapel. Although this garden is now 
separated from the convent by a narrow street, the 
rose-tree has been renewed from generation to genera- 
tion by those who have venerated the memory of the 
teacher. This proved only a temporary arrangement. 
His expositions of the Apocalypse attracted so many 

1 Rudelbach, Meier, and others give the date as 1489, follow- 
ing the custom of the time, which made the year begin on the 
28th of March. As a rule, the dates are given here as though 
the year began January i. 



I02 SAVONAROLA. 

hearers that it was found necessary to remove into the 
convent church. Permission was granted by Domenico 
da Finario, the prior of the convent. After some re- 
flection, Savonarola announced one Saturday to his 
hearers that to-morrow he should begin to preach ; and 
it is said that he added, he should continue to preach 
for eight years, — which actually happened. 

The change was greater than might appear. As a 
teacher or lecturer, Savonarola addressed himself to the 
understanding of his hearers, and instructed them in the 
meaning of the subject or book which was his theme. 
As a preacher he spoke, as the ambassador of Christ 
and the servant of God, to the heart and conscience of 
men. In the pulpit he was not merely the teacher, he. 
was the prophet. His first sermon was preached on the 
ist of August, — soon, therefore, after his return to 
Florence, — and his success was assured from the be- 
ginning. The church was so crowded that the brothers 
had to stand on the walls of the choir ; and the effect 
of the sermon was prodigious. Savonarola, referring to 
it afterwards, said it was a terrible sermon (jma predica 
terribile) ; and from the account which he has left, we 
may learn that he had now, once and forever, taken up 
that great theme which was to be the uninterrupted 
subject of his teaching and warnings so long as he was 
permitted to preach. 

"On the 1st of August of this year," he says,^ " on a 
Sunday, I began to explain publicly the Apocalypse in our 
church of St. Mark. During the whole course of that year 
I continued to set forth to the Florentines these three 
propositions: i. The Church of God must be renovated, 
and that in our time. 2. Italy is to be scourged before 

1 Compendio di Revelatione. 



THE PRIOR OF ST. MARK'S AND LORENZO. 103 

this renovation. 3. All these things will happen very soon. 
I endeavored to demonstrate these three points to my 
hearers, and to persuade them by probable arguments, 
by allegories taken from Holy Scripture, and by other 
similitudes or parables drawn from what was taking 
place in the Church. I insisted upon reasons of this 
kind, and I kept back the knowledge which God gave me 
of these things by other means, because men's minds did 
not seem to me at that time in a condition to understand 
those mysteries." 

The same account is given by Burlamacchi, who says 
that he began by proving his three propositions from 
reason and Scripture, not considering the people pre- 
pared to believe in the visions by means of which he 
had obtained this knowledge ; and afterwards, when he 
saw in his hearers a better disposition, he began to 
make known to them the revelations which he had 
received, but by way of parables and figuratively. 

The impression which his preaching made upon all 
classes was deep and powerful. Naturally enough, it 
was also diverse. Such ideas could not be promulgated 
without exciting opposition as well as attracting attention 
and interest. So it has been with all great teachers. 
Of the greatest of all teachers we read that " some said. 
He is a good man : others said, Nay ; but He deceiveth 
the people ; " ^ and the biographer of Savonarola tells 
us that when he began his sermons at St. Mark's, some 
said he was " a simple and good man," while others 
said he was " learned, but most cunning." Friends and 
foes, men of the world and philosophers, as well as 
earnest and simple-minded Christians, continued to 
crowd around the pulpit of St. Mark's, until it became 

1 St. John vii. 12. 



I04 SAVONAROLA. 

evident that a larger arena must be found for his work 
and influence. 

Accordingly, when the Lent of the following year 
(1491) arrived, he was called to preach in the cathedral, 
and became at once the accepted teacher, the ac- 
knowledged spiritual power of Florence, — a position 
which he retained, amid all the many wondrous vicissi- 
tudes of fortune and condition through which the great 
city was destined to pass during the next seven years. 
There is no reason to believe that Savonarola ever 
wavered in his convictions with regard to the main 
propositions which he had set himself to proclaim and 
enforce ; but it appears clearly that he was not at this 
moment prepared, at all hazards, to force them upon 
an unwilling audience.-"- Finding that in certain quarters 
a very determined opposition was arising to the subjects 
of his preaching, he "became at times pusillanimous, 
and made up his mind no longer to preach on these 
points," but to restrict himself to the general doctrines 
of morality and religion.^ 

This course soon proved unpalatable and impossible. 
Everything which drew him away from these studies 
proved uninteresting and wearisome, and filled him with 
" disgust ; " so that he began to " hate himself." How 
could he preach with full conviction and power when 
he was not speaking of the things of which his heart was 
full? Thus to preach would have been to abandon his 

1 This we learn from Burlamacchi and from his own Compen- 
dio di Revelatione. 

2 According to Villari, this change in his method was brought 
about, in part, by remonstrances from Lorenzo de' Medici and 
others. As this eminent writer has cited no authorities for 
changing the ordinarily received order of these events, I have 
preferred to follow that given by Burlamacchi. 



THE PRIOR OF ST. MARK'S AND LORENZO. 105 

mission, to give up the special work wliich he felt called 
upon to perform. He seems to have done his very best 
to tread in the paths of ordinary preachers ; but he failed 
in this attempt. He had resolved on one occasion that 
he would not preach on the subject of the future history 
of the Church and of Italy ; but on the Saturday pre- 
ceding he found he could think of nothing else. " God 
is my witness," he says, "that during the whole of Satur- 
day and through the whole night until the morning I 
lay awake, and every other way, every doctrine except 
that, was taken from me. At daybreak, wearied and de- 
pressed by this long vigil, I heard, whilst I was praying, 
a voice which said to me : ' Fool, dost thou not see 
that God wills thee to follow the same way ? ' And 
so that day I delivered a tremendous sermon."^ It 
was, says his biographer, " a wonderful and stupendous 
sermon." 

From this time he seems to have struggled no more 
against his convictions, — against those voices which were 
speaking in his heart, and which dominated all his 
thought and his action. It was no longer the teacher 
expounding the text of Scripture, and enforcing its pre- 
cepts by the arguments of reason and the testimonies of 
experience and history, it was the seer standing face to 
face with the invisible world, looking away into the future, 
near or distant, and telHng with passionate conviction all 
that he saw and heard in that sphere from which ordi- 
nary men were shut out. Nor did he confine himself to 
such general statements as were contained in his three 
famous propositions ; he ventured to predict particu- 
lar events. It was, apparently, at this time that he an- 
nounced the near death of Pope Innocent, the coming 
1 Compendium Revelationum. 



1 06 SA VONAROLA. 

descent of the French upon Italy, and the calamities 
which were about to befall the house of the Medici and 
Lorenzo himself. 

In July of 1491 the Prior of St. Mark's died^ and 
Savonarola was elected to fill his place. It had become 
a custom in the convent for the new prior to go and 
do homage to the head of the house to which it was so 
deeply indebted ; but Savonarola saw in this a danger- 
ous concession, which was at variance with his sense of 
independence as a priest. " I acknowledge my elec- 
tion," he said, " as the act of God, and to Him I will 
pay my homage." The remonstrances of the monks 
were of no avail. They were met by the simple ques- 
tion : " Is it God or Lorenzo who has made me prior? " 
When "The Magnificent" heard of this refusal, he was 
greatly excited. " You see," he exclaimed, " a foreigner 
is come into my own house, and will not even conde- 
scend to visit me." -^ 

However deeply Lorenzo may have resented this want 
of courtesy or deference on the part of the new prior, 
he was too skilled in the arts of government to manifest 
his resentment ; and he set himself to conciliate the 
man whom he was unable to command. Accordingly, 
he was often to be seen at Mass in the convent church, 
and he further attempted to throw himself in the way 
of the Frate by coming and walking in the convent gar- 
den. On one occasion this happened while Savonarola 
was engaged in his studies ; and one of the brethren 
thought right to run and tell the prior that their bene- 
factor was walking in the garden and probably expected 
to see him. " Has he asked for me ? " inquired the 

1 The theory of Perrens on the original cause of Savonarola's 
antipathy to Lorenzo has been examined in chapter iv. 



THE PRIOR OF ST. MARK'S AND LORENZO. 107 

prior. ''No, but — " " Very well, then ; let him con- 
tinue his walk as long as he pleases," was the reply. In 
the eyes of a man who so loved liberty, and saw m it 
the only hope and possibility of raising Florence out of 
its wretched ungodliness, frivolity, and wickedness, the 
man who was enslaving it could be no object of admira- 
tion or complacency. To go out of his way to recognize 
Lorenzo further than strict duty demanded would be, 
in his judgment, to make himself the accomplice of one 
whom he regarded as encouraging all the worst evils by 
which the city was afHicted. 

Lorenzo was not to be discouraged. There might be 
other ways of conciliating a man who was becoming a 
power too formidable to be ignored. He continued to 
send gifts to the convent, which were accepted and 
made over to the general funds of the society, without, 
however, producing any alteration in the manners or 
attitude of the prior. He was not ungrateful for them, 
but he estimated them at their true value. " The good 
dog," he said one day in his pulpit, " always barks in 
order to protect his master's house ; and if a thief comes 
and throws him a bone or anything else to put him off 
his guard, the good dog takes it, but at the same time 
he also barks, and bites the thief." 

Perhaps, thought Lorenzo, he dislikes the connection 
between the giver and the gifts being made so evident ; 
and he caused a considerable amount of gold to be de- 
posited in the alms-box of St. Mark's Church. Savona- 
rola knew too well where it came from ; and separating 
the smaller pieces of money placed in the chest, which, 
according to custom, he reserved for the needs of the 
convent, he sent the gold to the good men {buori' uomint) 
of St. Martin, to be distributed among the poor of the 



Io8 SAVONAROLA. 

city. And so, says Burlamacchi, Lorenzo came to see 
" that this was not the soil to plant vines in." 

It would appear, moreover, that Savonarola, so far 
from being conciliated by this conduct, did not cease 
to denounce the evil that was being wrought in Flor- 
ence by the arts of the Medici. In spite of every ad- 
vance made by Lorenzo, he went on reproving the 
vices of the age, and threatening the great tribulations 
which he saw coming upon the earth. Whether he 
made direct allusion to the influence of the man in au- 
thority or not, his meaning was not obscure ; and Pico 
tells us that Lorenzo, hearing that Savonarola had in- 
veighed against his tyrannical customs and ways (ty- 
rannicos tisus), attempted to conciliate him, while a 
number of citizens, "stirred up," says Burlamacchi, 
" by lukewarm religious, went and urged him not to 
go on preaching in that manner." At last Lorenzo 
sent to him five citizens of great authority to entreat 
him, as though they came of their own accord, that 
"for the sake of the common good and peace of the 
city, and also for the good of the convent, he would 
adopt another style of preaching, and one more gen- 
eral, and that he would not predict the future or re- 
fer to particular things beyond what was necessary." 
The names of the five are given by Burlamacchi, and 
it is possible that they were chosen by Lorenzo be- 
cause they were known to be friendly to the Frate. 
If this were so, it would be another proof of his desire 
to win him by conciliatory measures. Be this as it 
may, all the five were afterwards found among his fol- 
lowers. One name we may mention, as we shall hear 
again of him who bore it, and under circumstances 
of deep and painful interest, the name of Francesco 



THE PRIOR OP ST. MARK'S AND LORENZO. 109 

Valori. When they came into the presence of Savona- 
rola they all but lost courage to speak, and made their 
appeal in a very feeble and half-hearted manner. They 
were received with great kindness by the Frate. He 
told them that he knew they were not speaking their 
own mind, but that of Lorenzo ; and he gently rebuked 
them for thus allowing themselves to be the instru- 
ments of another. He bade them go and admonish 
Lorenzo to repent of his errors, as a calamity sent by 
God was now impending over him and his house. 

Again, it is said, three other men came to him on the 
same errand ; ^ and he gave them these words for answer : 
" Tell Lorenzo from me that he is a Florentine and the 
first man in the city, and I am a foreigner, a poor, mean 
friar. Nevertheless, tell him that it is he who is to de- 
part, and I who am to remain ; he will go, but I shall 
stay." Not knowing what to reply, they departed, and 
dehvered their message. Lorenzo, it is said, remem- 
bered the warning in the solemn hour which was then 
drawing near. 

Resolving not to be baffled, the Magnificent attempted 
other means of dealing with the unapproachable friar. If 
he could not win him to his side, he might, perhaps, de- 
stroy his popularity and influence among the people. For 
this purpose he stirred up his old rival, the Augustinian 
Fra Gennazzano, to resume his preaching. We remem- 
ber the enormous popularity achieved by this preacher 
at the time that Savonarola was attempting to gain the 
ear of his five and twenty listeners in the church of San 
Lorenzo. He must have been, in some sense, a man of 
eminence, although, as Burlamacchi says, he was "more 
endowed with eloquence than with holy doctrine." Up 

1 Pico says he had heard that these came of their own accord. 



no SAVONAROLA. 

to this time he had professed to rejoice in the success 
of Savonarola ; but no sooner had he received from Lo- 
renzo the hint to attack him, than he prepared to do so 
with all vehemence. On Ascension Day, 1492,-^ he 
preached in the church of San Gallo, after vespers, and 
taking for his text the words of our Lord, " It is not 
for you to know the times or the seasons " {Non est 
vestrum nosse tempora vel momenta), he made a most 
violent attack upon Savonarola, — denouncing him as a 
false prophet, as a sower of sedition and disorder, and, 
in short, proceeded to such lengths as to disgust his 
audience, so that in that one day he almost entirely 
lost the reputation which he had previously acquired, 
and many of his own friends fell away from him. 
Next Sunday Savonarola preached from the same text, 
showing that it was quite compatible with all that he 
had taught ; so that the attempt of Lorenzo utterly 
failed, and left Savonarola more than ever master of 
the situation. 

Although Gennazzano discontinued his preaching, to 
which those who had now been arrested by the enthusi- 
asm of his rival were little likely to give heed, he pro- 
fessed the greatest regard for Savonarola, invited him to 
his convent, asked him to sing Mass, and joined with 
him in the celebration, and exchanged all kinds of cour- 
tesies with him. This was, however, only a dissembling 
of his real feelings. It was not easy for a man, especi- 

1 The date given ; at present I am unable to see how this 
can be consistent with the time of the death of Lorenzo. If we 
could place this incident in 1491, before the appointment of 
Savonarola as Prior of St Mark's, all would be simple. Signor 
Villari avoids the difficulty by omitting mention of the year to 
which this Ascension Day belongs. 



THE PRIOR OF ST. MARK'S AND LORENZO, iii 

ally for a man of his character, who had been regarded 
as the greatest preacher of his time, to see the relative 
positions of himself and another so suddenly and utterly 
changed. It was not easy to forget the admiring crowds 
that had hung upon his lips in the Santo Spirito nine 
years before, while the immature utterances of the Frate 
of San Marco were resounding within the almost empty 
walls of San Lorenzo, and to see with patience that 
now, whilst he was neglected, all men had gone after 
that other. Hatred and the desire for revenge took 
possession of him. Shortly afterwards, going to Rome, 
he not only denounced his rival in private to the Pope, 
but publicly, in a sermon, declared him to be in league 
with the author of evil ; or, as Burlamacchi puts it, he 
exclaimed : " ' Burn, Holy Father, burn, I say, this in- 
strument of the devil, this scandal of the whole Church,' 
speaking openly of the Father Fra Girolamo." When 
the Frate heard of it, he only expressed the hope that 
God would forgive him. 

It is creditable to Lorenzo that he should now have 
abstained from any further attempts to interfere with 
Savonarola. Such a course may have been dictated by 
that regard to policy which distinguished the more able 
members of his family ; and it is most likely that he had 
other thoughts, suggested by the malady which, now 
increasing in strength, was before long to carry him off. 
But there can be no doubt that he had conceived a 
genuine admiration for this bold friar who would not 
be deterred by threats or blandishments from speak- 
ing the words which he believed that God had put in 
his mouth, and who commended his message by the 
splendor of his genius and the unfeigned sanctity of his 
life. It is at least certain that when Lorenzo felt the 



112 SAVONAROLA. 

approach of the last enemy, he experienced an earnest 
desire to see the man whom, in his Hfetime, he had vainly 
striven to conciliate. As his sickness increased he had 
retired to the villa at Careggi built by Cosimo ; and it 
became evident, early in April, that he had not long to 
live. For a time he was able to enjoy the society of 
his friends and to receive the visits of some of the 
more distinguished citizens of Florence. The better 
side of his character came out, as he was withdrawn 
from the temptations of the great city, and lost the 
power of gratifying his baser passions. Those who read 
only the hymns in which the undoubtedly religious char- 
acter of his mind is expressed, would find it impossible 
to believe that he could be the writer of those Carnival 
Songs of which we have already heard. Politian, who 
was constantly with him in these last days of his hfe, 
relates that he called his son Piero to him, and gave him 
solemn counsels as to his conduct as a citizen and as a 
possible ruler of Florence in the future. " Remember," 
he said, — how little the warning was heeded, we 
shall shortly be forced to tell, — "remember in every 
position to pursue that course of conduct which strict 
integrity prescribes, and to consult the interests of 
the whole community, rather than the gratification of a 
part." 

As the end drew near he expressed a wish to see 
Savonarola, " because," he said, " I have never yet 
found a religious like him." ^ •' Tell him," said Savo- 
narola, when he received the request, " that I am not 
what he wants, because we shall not be in accord ; and 
therefore it is not expedient that I come." " Go back 
to the prior," said the Magnificent, " and tell him that 

1 Burlamacchi, p. 37. 



THE PRIOR OF ST. AIARICS AND LORENZO. 113 

at all events he must come ; for I want to be in accord 
with him and do all that he shall tell me." It is gener- 
ally known that there are two accounts of this inter- 
view, — that of Politian, who was present at the time, and 
that given by the younger Pico and Burlamacchi. Ros- 
coe, unable to see any good in the priest who would not 
be the mere tool of the destroyers of Florentine liberty, 
and hardly any evil in Lorenzo the Magnificent, treats 
the latter account as improbable and untrue ; although 
if he had considered the matter more maturely, he 
would have found the story told by the friends and biog- 
raphers of Savonarola much more illustrative of the 
haughtiness which he ascribes to him than the narra- 
tive of Politian, which he adopts. It may be possible to 
show that the contradiction between the two accounts is 
not so great as would at first sight appear. 
Here is Roscoe's version of the interview : — 

*' This interview [between Lorenzo and the elder Pico] 
was scarcely terminated when a visitor of a very different 
character arrived. This was the haughty and enthusiastic 
Savonarola, who probably thought that in the last moments 
of agitation and of suffering he might be enabled to collect 
materials for his factious purposes. With apparent charity 
and kindness, the priest exhorted Lorenzo to remain firm 
in the Catholic faith; to which Lorenzo professed his strict 
adherence. He then required an avowal of his intention, 
in case of recovery, to live a virtuous and well-regulated 
life ; to this Lorenzo also signified his sincere assent. 
Lastly, he reminded him that, if needful, he ought to bear 
his death with fortitude. ' With cheerfulness,' replied 
Lorenzo, ' if such be the will of God.' On his quitting 
the room, Lorenzo called him back, and as an unequivocal 
mark that he harbored no resentment against him for the 
injuries which he had received, requested the priest would 



114 SAVONAROLA. 

bestow upon him his benediction ; with which he instantly 
complied, Lorenzo making the usual responses with a firm 
and collected voice." 

The animus of this statement is evident ; ^ but it is 
with the facts alone that we have now to deal. Roscoe 
refers in a note to a different account of the interview 
given by Pico, which is " deserving of notice," he says, 
" only by the necessity of its refutation." The account 
of which he speaks is given by Burlamacchi as well as 
by Pico,^ with different degrees of detail. We shall 
reproduce it here, and consider briefly its internal prob- 
ability and its consistency with the story given by Poli- 
tian. According to the friends and contemporaries 
of Savonarola, it was at I^orenzo's earnest request that 
he came to see him.^ During the interview Lorenzo 

^ Compare Roscoe's report with Politian's own language : 
" Scarcely had Pico left, when Hieronymus of Ferrara entered 
the chamber, — a man distinguished for his learning and holiness, 
an eminent preacher of heavenly doctrine [insignis et dodrina et 
sandimojiia vir, ccclestisque dodrince pradicator egreghis).'" And 
Roscoe professes to reproduce the testimony of Politian I 

- Also by Barsanti, Razzi, and other authorities of no less 
credibility. 

3 Burlamacchi here adds that Lorenzo said he had three sins 
to confess, for which he asked absolution, — the sack of Volterra, 
the money taken from the Monte delle Fanciulle, and the blood 
shed in punishing those who were implicated in the Pazzi con- 
spiracy It has naturally been objected that this could not have 
been known without a violation of the secrecy of the Confes- 
sional. But it must be noted that Pico's narrative makes no 
mention of this incident, so that we may safely regard it as 
fabulous. I cannot understand how Professor Villari has al- 
lowed it to remain in his text, notwithstanding his separate 
note on the subject (vol. i. p. 182). The remarks of Ranke 
(Historische biographische Stiidien, s, 350) seem quite conclusive. 



THE PRIOR OF ST. MARK'S AND LORENZO. 115 

became greatly agitated, and Savonarola, to calm him, 
kept on repeating : " God is good, God is merciful. 
But," he went on, " you must do three things." " What 
are they, father?" asked Lorenzo. The countenance 
of Savonarola became grave as, extending the fingers 
of his right hand, he replied : " First, you must have 
a great and living faith in the mercy of God." " In 
that I have the greatest faith." " Secondly, you must 
restore all that you have wrongly taken away, or instruct 
your sons to make restitution for you." For a moment 
this demand seemed greatly to distress Lorenzo ; but 
at last, making an effort, he signified his assent by the- 
inclination of his head. The third requirement was yet 
to be made. Savonarola became still more solemn in 
manner, and seemed to increase in stature, as with ter- 
rible earnestness he continued : " Lastly, you must 
restore liberty to your native country as it was in the 
early days of the republic of Florence." It was touch- 
ing the root of the man's family pride and ambition. 
Summoning his remaining strength, he angrily turned 
his back upon the friar, and refused to utter another 
word. Savonarola departed without pronouncing ab- 
solution, and Lorenzo died soon afterwards, on the 
same day, April 8, 1492. 

By those who deny the accuracy, even the general 
credibility, of this account, it is assumed that Politian 
was present during the whole of the interview, and 

Whether we consider the internal probability or the external 
evidence, the whole story becomes clearer and more consistent 
by the rejection of this incident. Lorenzo's refusal to comply 
with Savonarola's preliminary requirements prevented any for- 
mal confession from being made, so that no absolution could be 
given. 



Il6 SAVONAROLA. 

heard all that passed between the confessor and his 
penitent. Neither assumption can be sustained. Poli- 
tian himself, in his letter which describes the last day 
of Lorenzo's life, states that he several times went into 
an adjoining chamber; and Razzi asserts expressly that, 
during the interview, " the others left the room." Be- 
sides, is it probable that even the dearest friends of the 
dying man would be permitted to hear, or would desire 
to hear, the last words which he spoke in confession 
to a priest? There is indeed a certain agreement be- 
tween the two narratives, and Pohtian's report may refer 
to the first words which passed between the two men. 
It is customary, at the beginning of a confession, to ask 
and obtain the priest's blessing; and so much may 
have been seen before the others quitted the chamber. 
And this is all that PoHtian says. Of the withholding 
of the absolution he may have seen and known nothing. 
If he knew of it, as the devoted friend of Lorenzo he 
would have been little likely to record it. 

M. Perrens, indeed, goes so far as to deny the inter- 
nal probability of the story of the biographers. He says 
that the demand for the restoration of the liberties of 
Florence is a mere anticipation of the course of con- 
duct which was afterwards pursued by Savonarola in the 
revolutionary times which were soon to follow. This 
objection may safely be left to the judgment of those 
who are acquainted with the whole history of the pe- 
riod. In the very height of the revolution, Savonarola 
never professed to be in theory a republican ; he 
preferred the monarchical form of government where it 
was possible. Moreover, before the death of Lorenzo, it 
is agreed by all, he denounced his influence as destruc- 
tive alike of the liberties of the State and of public 



THE PRIOR OP ST. MARIA'S AND LORENZO. 117 

morality. Even in the minutest details, the account 
of Savonarola's friends is the more probable. Was it 
likely that he who had refused to have intercourse with 
"The Magnificent" when he was lord of Florence, 
would have almost forced himself upon him when he 
was at the point of death? 

The death of Lorenzo de' Medici was an event fruit- 
ful in consequences to his own family, to Savonarola, 
and to the State of Florence. Had he lived to the 
natural life of man, — he was only forty-four years of 
age when he died, — how different might have been 
the future history of the republic and of Italy ! 

In the same year (1492), July 25, Pope Innocent VIII. 
died, and was succeeded by Alexander VI. Events are 
thickening, and we can with difficulty realize the fact 
that the wonderful changes which have now to be 
related should have taken place within a period of time 
so Hmited. 



Il8 SAVONAROLA. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE PREACHER AND PIERO DE' MEDICI. 

The reputation of Savonarola was never at a higher 
pitch than in the first days of the administration of Piero 
de' Medici. All the attempts of Lorenzo had failed to 
silence, to intimidate, or to conciliate the man who felt 
that he was sent by God, and did not owe his position, 
as priest or as prior, to human authority. He had even 
made a conquest of the potentate who had thought to 
be his master as he was the master of Florence. The 
dying Lorenzo had sought counsel in his last moments 
of the Prior of St. Mark's, the terrible preacher of Santa 
Maria del Fiore. If he could thus influence the greatest 
among them, whose word had been as law to the whole 
people, how could he be any longer resisted ? 

But these were only the effects of the real and mighty 
inward power which dwelt in the heart of the man him- 
self, and which made itself felt in his every word and 
deed and gesture. The saintliness of his life was known 
to all by the testimony of his brethren and by many in- 
falUble proofs. The clearness of his spiritual perceptions 
gave to his utterances a distinctness and a certainty which 
could not be mistaken, and which produced instant con- 
viction. The singleness of his aims, the high unworldliness 
of his designs, the strength of his will, the capaciousness 
of his intellect, all combined to make him wellnigh irre- 



THE PREACHER AND PIERO DE' MEDICI. i 19 

sistible. He was univ^ersally recognized at this time as 
the great spiritual power in Florence, even as some years 
after he became, in fact and almost in name, the ruler 
of the republic. 

Savonarola's biographers seem to feel, rather than to 
say, that here was a new starting-point in his marvellous 
career ; for his history is the history of Florence. They 
pause at this crisis to speak of the man himself, — of his 
power as a preacher, of his character, deportment, life. 
" This great father," says Burlamacchi, " was endowed 
with infinite and most rare virtues. He was benignant 
and pleasant with all, humble and gentle with every one 
of the novices, and universally affable in conversation. 
The familiarity of his manner produced joy and gladness 
in others ; and those who once came to know him had 
the greatest desire and avidity for his company; and 
when he spoke of spiritual things, no one was able to 
withdraw from his presence." To this he added a mar- 
vellous power of divining what was passing in the minds 
of others, as well as of influencing their opinions and 
judgments. On a certain occasion he discerned in one 
of the novices a desire to abandon the religious life. A 
glance from the prior told the halting youth that his 
thoughts were being interpreted, and decided him to 
abide in his vocation. 

The testimony of Pico is entirely to the same effect. 
He was ever accessible, even to his enemies, and he was 
of wonderful placability. Pico says it was " native ; " but 
we may be permitted to doubt this, and to ascribe his 
meekness and gentleness to a Source higher than nature. 
He was never known to utter a harsh or rough rebuke, 
or to raise his voice in anger, or to show a trace of 
passion on his countenance, however much he might 



I20 SAVONAROLA. 

be provoked. He was fervent in the denunciation and 
eradication of vices ; but in his pubhc admonitions it 
was by gentleness of speech, by simplicity of language, 
rather than by vehemence or exaggeration of expression, 
that he sought to carry conviction to his hearers. 

His manner of hfe was in keeping with the unworldli- 
ness of his mind. He partook of the commonest food, 
and ate the coarsest bread that he could obtain. If a 
finer quality were placed before him, he would change it, 
and give it to some old and feeble person. He was most 
sparing in food and drink ; and from this rule he never 
departed, except when he was showing hospitality, — 
a duty which he never neglected, although he had almost 
lost all taste for it himself. His dress was as plain as 
his diet ; but although coarse, it was always scrupulously 
clean. He was fond of repeating the words of Saint 
Bernard : " That he liked poverty, but not dirt." ^ 

For nothing was he more remarkable than for his 
deep, earnest, and constant habits of devotion. He 
was indeed one of those who " pray without ceasing." 
If he lay awake at night, he spent every moment in 
prayer and holy meditation. Some of the stories re- 
lated of him, in connection with this habit, border upon 
the miraculous. On a certain Christmas Eve, we are 
told, when lauds were being sung in the church, his 
body remained perfectly motionless for five hours ; and 
" so entirely were his thoughts and affections absorbed 
in God by the presence of the Holy Spirit that his face 
emitted a strong light. When the divine office was 
completed, those who returned to the church testified 
that even after they had extinguished the lamps, the face 
of Girolamo shone in the darkness and seemed to light 

1 Paupertatem sibi placere, non sordes. 



THE PREACHER AND PIERO DE' Af EDICT. 12 1 

up the choir of the church." Doubtless, imagination 
had some part in producing these impressions ; but the 
candid reader will confess the existence of some extra- 
ordinary depth of devotion in the man who could so 
powerfully influence his contemporaries. Fra Silvestro, 
his most intimate friend among the brethren, declared 
that more than once he had seen the figure of a dove 
hovering over his head. 

Yet the devotional and contemplative character of his 
life did not destroy its practical side, or lead him to 
dispense with the labor of study. His own native ten- 
dencies were towards philosophical speculation. We 
have seen that he regarded these tendencies with sus- 
picion, fearing lest they should divert him from the true 
business of the religious life. Yet he did not allow him- 
self to be driven into the opposite fanatical extreme of de- 
spising reading and study. He labored as well as prayed. 
With him also work was worship, even as worship was 
work. He often quoted the saying of Saint Francis of 
Assisi, that a man's knowledge was in proportion to his 
work, that " a man knows as much as he works." ' 

That such a man, filled with an overwhelming sense 
of his divine calling to speak forth the word of truth in 
an age which had almost forgotten God, should prove 
" mighty in word and deed," was a simple necessity of 
the case ; and so we are told his preaching was almost 
miraculous, " for the rapidity of his utterance, the 
sublimity and greatness of the things discoursed upon, 
and the elegance of his words and sentences were 
equally wonderful. His voice was clear and sonorous, 
his countenance animated and impassioned, and his 
gesture graceful and impressive." 

1 Tanto sa ciascuno quanto opera. 



122 SAVONAROLA. 

These testimonies, his enemies allege, are those of 
his friends and admirers. The objection reminds us of 
the well-known theory which professes to explain the 
spread of Mahometanism, The false prophet, it is said, 
propagated his religion by the sword. The retort is 
just: How did he get his sword? In the case of 
Savonarola, the power which he exercised is indisputa- 
ble. To reject the testimony given to his character and 
work is to admit the effect and deny the only reasonable 
explanation of the cause. 

The preaching of Savonarola was intensely bibHcal. 
We have seen how he ever, more and more, turned to 
the Holy Scriptures as his favorite and supreme subject 
of study. Nearly all his sermons started from the ex- 
position of a passage drawn from the Bible. To us 
many of his explanations must seem far-fetched and 
fanciful ; but it was the manner of his day, and he 
adopted it on principle. His peculiarities, as we should 
deem them, did not, however, consist in forcing the 
Bible to prove that which it did not contain, but rather 
in finding the recognized doctrines of the Church in 
texts which, to ordinary minds, seem to have nothing 
whatever to do with them. But whether he was a trust- 
worthy interpreter or not, he was always a true and 
earnest preacher, speaking to the intelligence, the heart, 
the conscience. The words which he spoke were spirit 
and life and power. Whatever art and skill as an orator 
he possessed came from within, not from without. He 
was singularly destitute of what might be called rhe- 
torical culture ; and this explains the failure of his first 
efforts. The great and burning thoughts within him 
were laboring in vain for articulate expression. It was 
only as he saw more clearly the evils which he was 



THE PREACHER AND PIERO DE' MEDICI. 123 

called to denounce, and the only remedy which could 
be successfully applied, that the clearness of his percep- 
tions came to be expressed in his language ; and this 
grew to be well ordered by reason of his severely 
trained intellect, and again was set on fire by his deep 
conviction, his ardent zeal, and his fervent love for God 
and man. Guicciardini, no mean judge, says that, after 
having read and studied the sermons of Savonarola, he 
found them most eloquent, and of an eloquence that 
was natural, and not artificial. He adds that for ages 
there had not been seen a man so learned in the sacred 
writings ; and that whilst no one ever succeeded in 
preaching at Florence more than two Lents without 
wearying his hearers, Savonarola was able to do so for 
many years, ever rising higher in the estimation of the 
people. Those who study his sermons most carefully 
will understand this criticism, and they will perceive 
something of the secret of his mighty power ; the power 
itself, however, is a simple fact of history. 

The popularity of Savonarola went on increasing; 
and he was more and more regarded, not only as the 
denouncer of all the frightful evils of the age, but as the 
steady and unflinching opponent of the enslavers of 
Florence, the Medici. He had predicted the death of 
Lorenzo, and his prediction had speedily been fulfilled ; 
also of Innocent VIII., and he had died in the same 
year as the Magnificent. When Alexander VI. ascended 
the papal throne, if the need of renovation became 
more evident, the prospect grew more remote. Nothing 
short of some special divine intervention seemed capable 
of bringing about the wished-for change. 

As the power of Savonarola went on increasing, and 
his influence was more evidently than ever lending itself 



124 SAVONAROLA. 

to defeat the measures of the ruling family, it was natural 
and inevitable that he should provoke the determined 
enmity of the Medicean party ; and this opposition was 
strengthened by the accession of those who envied the 
Frate his success, and perhaps even more by the numer- 
ous body of ecclesiastics whose sensual and worldly 
mode of life he denounced with peculiar energy. Malig- 
nant men, " under the instigation of the evil one," lost 
no opportunity of persecuting him ; and among these, 
" the most bitter were the men of the most abandoned 
lives, and especially those prelates of the Church whose 
disgraceful lives were corrupting the whole world." 

Brooding on these things, meditating upon the ter- 
rible evils of the age and on his own powerlessness to 
check them, the Frate looked ever more for divine 
guidance and illumination, expecting to learn from 
visions the will of God and the future of the Church, 
as he believed he had done in the past. The vision 
did not tarry. In the very year which had witnessed 
the death of the master of Florence and of the head of 
the Church (1492), while he was preaching the Advent 
sermons, he had a vision or dream which he did not 
hesitate to regard as a divine revelation. In the midst 
of heaven he beheld a hand grasping a sword, under 
which the words were written : Gladius Domini super 
terram cito et velociter, — " The sword of the Lord upon 
the earth quickly and swiftly." At the same time he 
heard a multitude of voices clearly and distinctly prom- 
ising mercy to the good, and threatening punishment to 
the wicked, and proclaiming that the wrath of God was 
nigh. Great thunderings were heard from heaven, 
weapons and fire seemed to fall from the skies, and the 
whole earth became a prey to wars and pestilences and 



THE PREACHER AND PIERO DE' MEDICI. 125 

famines. As the vision disappeared, Savonarola received 
the command to announce these chastisements, to teach 
men the fear of God, to bid them pray to the Lord to 
send good pastors to the Church, and finally to have a 
special care for troubled souls. This vision became a 
leading subject of his preaching and teaching, — we 
might almost say, for a considerable time its very centre, 
— and was represented in numerous pictures and medals 
of the period. 

It was not to be expected that Piero de' Medici 
should look upon these doings with indifference. In- 
deed, as the matter would present itself to his mind, it 
must have seemed to be now the question whether he 
or Savonarola should rule Florence. His father, when 
he found that be could not control the speech and 
action of the Frate, had left him alone. He was wise 
enough in all things to remain contented with the pos- 
session of the substance of power, and to dispense with 
the form and appearance of it when it was inexpedient 
to contend for it. It was for this reason that he had 
wisely preserved all the ancient forms of the government 
of the republic, while he was in fact supreme. Piero 
was a man of a totally different spirit. He had all the 
ambition and love of power which characterized Cosimo 
and Lorenzo ; but he was entirely destitute of their 
policy. Indeed, he was in most ways a striking contrast 
to his father, in appearance as well as in character. He 
was a man of a handsome and attractive person, and his 
intellectual abilities were of no mean order. Politian 
speaks of him as being beloved by the citizens, — "a man 
not less eminent for his own glory than for that of his 
family ; combining the talents of his father, the virtues 
and great kindliness of his uncle, the probity of his 



126 SAVONAROLA. 

grandfather, the prudence and piety of his great-grand- 
father ; in short, the heart and head of all his noble 
ancestors." 

If this description were to be taken literally, we should 
be forced to conclude that Piero made a miserable 
use of his advantages. He had, however, considerable 
abiHties. His memory was remarkably retentive ; he 
had a ready wit, and improvised verses with the greatest 
ease, and showed himself a friend and patron of litera- 
ture. But he knew too little of the spirit of the people 
of Florence, and forgot that, while they might part with 
the substance of liberty, they were attached to the form. 
Piero had all the haughtiness of the Orsini, his mother's 
family, and was rude and rough in his manners, — in this 
respect presenting a striking and unpleasing contrast to 
his father. Sometimes he would break into violent fits 
of passion at the slightest opposition, and make it too 
evident that in carrying out his own wishes he had 
little regard for those of others. 

Such conduct was more offensive to the Florentines 
than an open violation of their laws. Lorenzo had be- 
sought his son to remember that, whatever his power 
and influence might be, he was "only a citizen of 
Florence." This had never been forgotten by Cosimo, 
Pater Patrice, nor by Lorenzo himself; and the citizens 
were flattered by the thought that the greatest among 
them was still one of themselves. For such feelings 
Piero entertained and exhibited no respect. The ap- 
pearances of liberty which his father had carefully 
preserved, even while he was undermining the reality, 
the son proceeded deliberately to destroy. The widest 
disaffection began to spring up throughout the whole 
State. The leaders of the people, who had willingly 



THE PREACHER AND PIERO DE' MEDICI. 127 

followed Lorenzo, now secretly or openly fell away from 
his son ; and a party, continually increasing in numbers 
and influence, was being formed against him. Savona- 
rola, unintentionally, perhaps unconsciously to himself, 
was regarded, if not as the head, yet as the heart of this 
party ; and he was looked upon by Piero as his most 
dangerous adversary. It was in the midst of these 
growing antagonisms that the crowds at the cathedral 
first heard the terrible announcement of the sword of 
the Lord coming speedily and swiftly upon Italy. 

Piero could not be expected to look on with equa- 
nimity while the discontent of the people was finding 
expression in the first pulpit of Florence, and gathering 
strength from the warnings which were there proclaimed. 
He saw that in the Prior of San Marco lay the greatest 
danger for himself and his authority. But he had 
neither the prudence nor the self-control of Lorenzo. 
The Magnificent, when he could neither repress nor 
conciliate the preacher, would have allowed the move- 
ment which he guided to spend its force, would have 
temporized where he could not command. Piero was 
too impatient and imperious to submit to such delay. 
He could not silence the preacher or withdraw the 
people from listening to him ; and therefore he used his 
influence with his superiors in Rome and Milan to have 
him rem.oved for a season from Florence. This measure 
filled the brethren with grief and dismay. The prior 
alone was calm, resigned, hopeful. He was grateful 
for their affection, he told them ; but, he said, " if you 
are too much cast down, if you begin to think that 
you cannot live without me, your love is yet imper- 
fect, and therefore God has taken me from you for a 
season." This was in the beginning of 1493, and the 



128 SAVONAROLA. 

same year we find him preaching the Lent sermons at 
Bologna. 

The Bentivoglio family were still possessed of supreme 
authority in Bologna. He found himself hampered by 
the circumstances of the city, and lost much of the 
power and fervor which had marked his sermons at 
Florence. They called him a " simple man and a ladies' 
preacher" Still, his fame drew multitudes to hear him ; 
and among the congregation there appeared the wife of 
Bentivogho. This lady habitually came late into the 
church, bringing with her a large retinue of attendants, 
who greatly interrupted the preacher and disturbed the 
people. Savonarola was unwilling to take needlessly 
offensive measures to abate this nuisance ; so, at the be- 
ginning of the interruptions, he contented himself with 
merely finishing his sermon, or rather, with leaving off 
preaching. This tacit rebuke proved insufficient. Then 
he would pause in his sermon, and remark on the im- 
propriety of disturbing the faithful during their religious 
exercises. This indirect rebuke only inflamed the anger 
of the lady. She continued to come late, and every day 
with more noise, as if in contempt of his remonstrances. 
At last it became intolerable. One morning, while he 
was preaching with great energy and fervor, the usual 
interruption occurred. Then his indignation broke forth. 
"Behold," he exclaimed, "how the devil comes to 
interrupt the word of God." The proud wife of Ben- 
tivoglio in a rage gave orders to her followers to 
despatch the insolent preacher in the pulpit ; but even 
they shrank from the commission of such a crime. The 
delay brought her no better thoughts. She ordered two 
of her servants to find him out in his cell, and inflict 
some grievous injury upon him. Savonarola encoun- 



THE PREACHER AND PIERO DE' MEDICI. 129 

tered them with such cahnness and dignity, and spoke 
to them with such an air of authority, that they listened 
respectfully, and departed in confusion. Happily, it was 
near the end of Lent, and he had soon to depart from 
Bologna. He would not have it supposed that the ser- 
vant of God was driven from his place by fears for his 
personal safety. His parting words from the pulpit de- 
clared his unwavering confidence in God and in his mis- 
sion. "This evening," he said, "I shall take my way 
to Florence with my staff and my wooden flask, and I 
shall lodge at Pianoro. If any one has business with 
me, let him come to me before I leave. Know, however, 
that my death will not take place at Bologna." 

Florence was now ever his first and deepest thought. 
Even during the time of his anxious work at Bologna, 
he never forgot his beloved brethren and sons of San 
Marco. They were longing for his return, and he wrote 
to them frequently in a spirit of the most tender affec- 
tion. Sometimes in general terms he exhorted them to 
keep themselves above and apart from this present 
world. Sometimes he would descend to the minute 
details of their daily life. Those who knew only the 
preacher, ''mighty in the Scriptures," knew only half 
the man. It was in the words of loving wisdom which 
he spoke to his brethren that all his beautiful simplicity, 
all his tender love for the souls of men, all his deep 
devotion to the work of God, found most attractive 
expression. 

On his way back to Florence many thoughts occupied 
his mind respecting the state of the city, the growing 
enmity against the Medici, the difficulties which beset 
his future work. Villari thinks that the vision, which is 
related to have occurred on his former return to Flor- 

9 



.130 . SAVONAROLA. 

ence, took place at this time. There is one circum- 
stance in favor of this supposition. The words which 
his supernatural guide is said to have addressed to him, 
when he parted from him at the gate of San Gallo, would 
certainly seem better suited to this crisis in his history. 
" Remember," he said, as he vanished from his sight, 
" remember to do that for which thou art commissioned 
of God." That he who believed himself to have pecu- 
liar intercourse with the invisible world should, at this 
period of his history, have had such a vision or dream, 
will seem quite reasonable. Be this as it may, it can 
hardly be doubted that it was with thoughts like these, 
and under the influence of the emotions which they 
would excite, that he now returned to Florence. Grave 
events were coming near ; and he had to prepare, as 
best he could, to meet them in the strength of God. 



MONASTIC REFORM. 131 



CHAPTER VIII. 

MONASTIC REFORM. 

We have already seen clearly that Savonarola hoped 
for a reformation of the clergy as a means towards the 
renovation of the Church. This was the very fountain 
of the evil, that the leaders of the bhnd were themselves 
blind. The bitter fountain could not give forth sweet 
waters. But the greatest evil, in the view of the ardent 
reformer, was the corruption of the monasteries. The 
greatest and most bitter sorrow of his heart had been 
aroused by discovering that the vices of the outer world 
had penetrated into the very heart of the "religious life " 
in the convent. 

From the moment that he was appointed Prior of 
San Marco, he had entertained the purpose of effecting 
that thorough reform which he saw to be of absolute 
necessity. Removed for a season from the daily care 
of the society whose head he was, he had probably more 
leisure to meditate on its general condition, circum- 
stances, and needs. If the monks and friars were to be 
reformed, if he proclaimed the necessity of this reform, 
how could he abstain from the endeavor to begin this 
reformation at home ? If anything were needed to 
deepen his convictions and strengthen his resolves, he 
found it in all that he heard of the city while he was 
absent from it, in all that he saw when he returned. 



132 SAVONAROLA. 

In a sermon which he preached in the Advent of 
1493 he speaks of the frightful corruption prevaiHng 
among the clergy. After giving one example of the evils 
which he deplores, he exclaims, — 

"All the cities of Italy are full of these horrors. If you 
knew all that I know, — things disgusting, things horrible ! — 
you would shudder. When I think of all this, — of the life 
which is led by the priests, — I cannot restrain my tears. 
How do they protect their sheep ? I will tell you in a word, 
without lacking respect for those who are good. The evil 
pastors have made themselves mere instruments for leading 
the sheep into the jaws of the wolf." 

Again he exclaims, — 

" O prelates ! O supports of the Church ! look upon that 
priest who goes tricked out with his finery and his per- 
fumes. Go to his house, and you will find his table loaded 
with plate, like the tables of the great, — the rooms adorned 
with carpets, with hangings, with cushions. They have so 
many dogs, so many mules, so many horses, so many orna- 
ments, so much silk, so many servants ! Can you believe 
that these fine gentlemen will open for you the Church of 
God ? Their cupidity is insatiable. Look ! in the churches 
everything is done for money. The bells are rung from 
covetousness ! They resound only ' money, bread, and 
candles.' The priests go into the choir to get money; to 
vespers, to the other offices, because at these the money is 
distributed. See if they are at matins ! No ; because there 
is no distribution then. They sell benefices, they sell the 
sacraments, they sell the marriage-mass, they do everything 
from covetousness ! " 

There are some charges in the sermon which are too 
gross to be repeated here. Yet these charges were un- 
doubtedly true, and it was needful that they should be 



MONASTIC REFORM. 133 

publicly made by one who was resolved upon the work 
of reform. 

The difficulty in the way of effecting a thorough re- 
form in his own convent arose in great measure from 
the fact that the Tuscan congregation of the Dominican 
order was united with the Lombard, and was subject to 
the Father Provincial of Lombardy. In consequence 
of this state of things, it was possible for the enemies of 
Savonarola at any time, by means of the authorities of 
Lombardy or of Rome, to procure at least his temporary 
removal from Florence. It had not always been so. 
Previously to the great plague which had devastated 
Tuscany, the two congregations had bedn separate ; and 
they had been united, in consequence of the desolation 
of the convents caused by that calamity, in the year 
1448. Now that the numbers of the religious had 
greatly increased, there ought to be no difficulty in sepa- 
rating them again ; and Savonarola set himself, with all 
his energies, to restore the independence of the Tuscan 
congregation. The Frate on this occasion showed that 
he was not only a great speaker, but an able doer, — as 
great in organization and administration as in the power 
of influencing men by his spoken words. By the vigor 
with which he took his measures he prevented opposition 
to his scheme being organized by his enemies. 

It is indeed wonderful that Piero de' Medici should 
not have perceived that a most heavy blow was being 
aimed at his own authority, and that his great adversary 
was achieving an independence which was sure to be used 
against himself. It was only in this very year that Piero 
had used for his own purposes the power possessed by 
the Father Provincial, so as to have Savonarola removed 
during Lent to Bologna. It was another proof of his 



134 SAVONAROLA. 

dissimilarity to his father that he allowed himself to be 
persuaded into supporting the request which Savonarola 
was now making. He went so far as to instruct the 
Florentine ambassador at Rome to give it his warmest 
support, and to solicit the influence of the Cardinal of 
Naples on the same side.-^ Savonarola was not contented 
with forwarding his petition and obtaining this powerful 
support to his cause. He immediately sent to Rome 
two of the members of the brotherhood of St. Mark, Fra 
Alessandro Rinuccini, a member of one of the principal 
families of Florence, and Fra Domenico da Pescia, his 
first disciple. This sincere and constant friend of Savo- 
narola was the most remarkable of all his fellow-workers. 
Ardent and daring, he was a man of intense simplicity, 
of deep and living faith, and of absolute and entire de- 
votion to his superior. Of the divinity of his master's 
mission he never seems to have entertained even a 
momentary doubt. 

It was no easy matter to obtain their request. The 
Lombards, powerfully aided by Ludovico Sforza, made 
the most strenuous opposition to the separation ; so that 
the friends of Savonarola wrote and told him that they 
had no hope of succeeding. " Do not doubt," was his 
answer ; " be brave, and you will have the victory ; 
' the Lord . . . maketh the devices of the people to be 
of none effect, and casteth out the counsels of princes.' " 
And, in fact, the victory was obtained by what would be 
called a strange accident, which must have appeared 

^ Villari has remarked that his advocacy of the cause of the 
Dominicans was the more astonishing as he had always favored 
their rivals, the Franciscans. He suggests that he may have been 
influenced by his dislike to the governor of Lombardy, Ludovico 
" II Moro." 



MONASTIC REFORM. 1 35 

nothing short of a providential interposition. It was 
obtained at a moment when hope was at its lowest 
ebb. 

On the 2 2d of May, 1493, the Pope dismissed the 
Consistory, in consequence of fatigue, declaring that he 
would transact no more business on that day. The 
Cardinal of Naples alone remained with him ; and 
believing that he had found a moment suitable for 
urging the claims of the Tuscans, brought forth the 
brief authorizing the separation, and entreated the Pope 
to confirm it. After some pleasantries and altercation 
on the subject, the Cardinal in play snatched the Pope's 
ring from his finger and sealed the brief. Hardly had 
this been accomplished when the most urgent remon- 
strances arrived from the Lombards, entreating the Pope 
to refuse his consent to the measure. But the Pope 
bad heard enough of the matter, and refused to reopen 
it. " That which is done, is done," he made answer ; 
and the Tuscan congregation was now independent of 
Lombardy. Even the entreaties of Piero himself, who 
began too late to perceive the mistake he had com- 
mitted, were unavailing. 

The Pope's sanction had not come a moment too 
soon. The Father Provincial, foreseeing the possibility 
of defeat, had sent an order to Savonarola and his prin- 
cipal adherents to quit San Marco instantly, and to dis- 
perse themselves among certain other convents, subject 
to his jurisdiction, which he named. It was intended 
that these instructions should reach St. Mark's before 
the papal brief arrived ; and in that case, there would 
have been an end to all the prior's plans of reform. 
Again he was favored by a happy circumstance, which 
was also naturally attributed to the interposition of 



136 SAVONAROLA. 

Divine Providence. The order had been addressed to 
the Superior of the convent of Fiesole, to be communi- 
cated to those concerned. Through his absence from 
home, and the neglect of his representatives, it did not 
reach St. Mark's for more than a week afterwards. It 
was then of no avail, as the deed of separation had 
arrived. It has been suggested that even if it came in 
time, Savonarola may have delayed opening it, suspect- 
ing its contents. This is not impossible ; but it seems 
likely that it actually arrived after the papal brief. 

It was now time to begin the work of reorganization 
and reform. Savonarola was at once elected anew as 
Prior of St. Mark's, and a number of convents asked to 
be admitted into the new congregation. First among 
them was the convent of San Domenico of Fiesole ; and 
this, after intervals shorter or longer, was followed by 
many others, some of them adhering spontaneously, 
others constrained by a little gentle pressure. To make 
the new congregation complete, the prior convoked a 
union of the various bodies, to arrange their rules and 
to elect a superior. At this meeting he was unanimously 
chosen Vicar-General ; and he held this new dignity, 
with his accustomed gentleness and humility, to the end 
of his life. 

From what we have read of Savonarola's own char- 
acter and habits, and of the indignation with which he 
spoke of the luxury and self-indulgence of the clergy, 
we are prepared to hear that this was the first object of 
his attack, and the first subject of reform. The Domini- 
cans had been a mendicant order ; but there seems to 
-have been always some uncertainty as to the extent 
to which they might become possessed of property. 
Savonarola himself appears to have wavered on the 



MONASTIC REFORM. 137 

subject ; but on one point he had no doubt whatever. 
He was convinced that the Church ought to possess no 
more than was actually necessary. We have seen how 
he acted on this conviction, even with respect to the 
giving of alms. It was not fitting that the profuse 
bounty of Lorenzo should be distributed by the members 
of his society ; he made it over to the Buoii uomi?ii of 
San Martino. But there were great difficulties in giving 
full expression to his convictions with respect to the 
Vow of Poverty, especially having regard to the past 
history of St. Mark's. 

At one time he had formed the plan of retiring to a 
solitary mountain with his brethren, and there living 
a life of solitude and poverty. He had even chosen 
Monte Cane, near Careggi, for that purpose ; but how- 
ever this scheme might have commended itself to his 
tastes it was at once apparent that it must defeat all his 
larger designs for the renovation of the Church. It is 
said that he gave way to the remonstrances of the 
younger friars, and to objections arising from the un- 
healthy character of the locality ; but there were doubt- 
less graver reasons for his change of purpose. 

Upon the walls of St. Mark's were written the last 
terrible words of Saint Dominic, in which he denounced 
those who should introduce among his disciples the 
holding of property. " Have charity, preserve humility, 
possess voluntary poverty ; may my malediction and 
that of God fall upon him who shall bring possessions 
into this order." The words still stood written upon 
the cloister walls ; but they had been disregarded since 
the days of Sant' Antonino. By a new rule the convent 
had been declared capable of holding property ; and 
since that time had become very wealthy. Savonarola 



138 SAVONAROLA. 

determined to return to the original constitution. He 
began by selling all the property of the society, and thus 
cut off at once its too abundant supplies. Hence it 
became necessary, in other ways, to provide for their 
needs. 

As a first measure for reducing the expenditure, he 
required the friars to wear less costly clothing ; he 
made their cells simpler and less ornate ; he forbade 
them to possess illuminated books, gold and silver 
crucifixes, and the like. But his reforms on the posi- 
tive side were no less important. He designed that 
they should live by the labors of their own hands ; and 
so introduced the study of painting and sculpture, and 
the art of writing and illuminating manuscripts. These 
occupations were assigned to the lay brethren and to 
those of the clerical brethren who were less advanced 
in the spiritual life ; while the cure of souls, the hear- 
ing of confessions, and preaching, were reserved for the 
more advanced. 

He was peculiarly anxious to raise the standard of 
education in his convent, and more particularly of the 
education that would fit the brethren for being able 
dispensers of the word of God. For this reason he 
made prominent three subjects of study, — theology, 
dogmatic and controversial ; morals and the canons ; 
and especially the study of Holy Scripture, To these 
he added a subject which at the time was even less 
common, — the study of Oriental languages. 

The difficulty of carrying out changes and reforms 
so sweeping was greatly lessened by the conviction of 
the Superior's sincerity and earnestness, produced by 
his own manner of life. He imposed no restraints 
upon others which he had not for long willingly 



MONASTIC REFORM. 139 

accepted himself; he prescribed no rules of life which 
he had not already more powerfully recommended by 
his own obedience ; and for a lime, at least, it seemed 
that the whole convent had caught his enthusiasm 
and become partakers of his ascetic spirit. And this 
enthusiasm not only gave a powerful stimulus to the 
studies, the labors, and the devotions of the friars, 
it spread beyond the walls of the convent, until men 
of the noblest families of Florence came forward and 
prayed to be admitted into the number of the brethren. 
A whole convent offered to change its rules for those 
of St. Mark, and to become incorporated into the so- 
ciety presided over by Fra Girolamo. The terms of 
the papal brief had given no such authority to Savo- 
narola ; and he declined their apphcation, resolved 
to give no occasion to his enemies to bring charges 
against him of overstepping his own province and 
powers. Indeed, he had difficulties enough with the 
houses belonging to his own order; some of them 
disliking the separation from Lombardy, others prob- 
ably shrinking from the more stringent discipline to 
which they were being subjected. 

His own labors were manifold. He was constantly 
consulted by those who needed guidance in their per- 
plexities. He gave himself only four hours of sleep ; 
so much time was of necessity consumed in the work 
of governing, in carrying on an extensive correspond- 
ence, in prayer and meditation, in the study of the 
Scriptures, in the preparation of his sermons. His life 
was the most simple of all ; and he shrank from no 
occupation and from the performance of no duty or 
service in the convent, however menial, which he im- 
posed upon others. 



140 SAVONAROLA. 

Burlamacchi gives a striking account of the con- 
ventual life of this period at St. Mark's. 

"After dinner," he says, "they took a moment's re- 
pose; then they gathered cheerfully around the father, 
who explained to them some passage of the divine Scrip- 
tures. Then they took a short walk, and recHned for a 
time in the shade while the father brought some passage 
from the sacred books before them as a subject of medi- 
tation. Then he made them sing a hymn in honor of 
our Lord, or took from the lives of the saints a theme 
for discourse. Sometimes he would invite them to dance, 
and accompany them with his voice. ... In the evening 
they often chanted psalms and hymns with great fervor. 
They would attire a young novice so as to represent the 
child Jesus ; and sitting around him, they would all give 
him their hearts, and ask some favor of him for themselves 
or others." 

He was a father in the midst of a loving and trusting 
family, or perhaps rather an elder brother whom all 
reverenced and loved. He lived among them as one 
who expected death to come to him suddenly and 
by violence ; but this never disturbed his serenity or 
cheerfulness. 

It was with something of increased dignity and au- 
thority that Savonarola returned to his work of preach- 
ing. He was no longer hable to be removed from his 
post at the will of the Lombard Provincial. He was 
now himself the head of the Tuscan congregation, with 
a reputation for truthfulness, courage, and personal 
holiness which had been steadily increasing. But his 
theme was still the same, — the ruin of the Church, the 
dissolute hves of the clergy, the corruption of the rulers 
in Church and State, the approaching scourge of God 
which was to chastise the evils of the age. 



MONASTIC REFORM. 141 

It was soon after his conventual reforms, in the x\d- 
vent of 1493, that he preached his sermons on the 
psalm Quam bonus, — " Truly God is loving imto Is- 
rael," ^ — which are considered to be theologically the 
best of his discourses.^ They are distinguished by a 
more careful diction, — probably they are better re- 
ported than some of his other courses, — by consider- 
able argumentative force, and by the strongest assertion 
of the doctrine of divine grace. 

"Let all Paradise come here," he exclaims, — "let the 
angels come, let the prophets and patriarchs come, let the 
martyrs come, let the doctors and all the saints come, 
one by one, that I may dispute with them ; come all the 
elect of God, that I may dispute with you. Say the truth, 
' Give glory to God,' confess the truth, if you have the 
glory, if you are happy and blessed by your own merits 
and by your own strength, or by divine goodness. Come 
here, you especially who have been immersed in sins ; 
tell me, Peter, tell me, O Magdalene, why are you in 
Paradise ? You certainly sinned like us. Thou, Peter, 
who didst confess the Son of God, who didst converse 
with Him, heardest Him preach, sawest His miracles, and 
more, who alone with two other disciples sawest Him 
transfigured upon Mount Tabor, and heardest the Fa- 
ther's voice ; and nevertheless, at the words of a mere 
woman didst deny Him three times, and yet wast re- 
stored to grace and made head of the Church, and now 
possessest heavenly blessedness, — whence hast thou ob- 
tained so great good 1 Thou wilt say, perhaps, because 
thou didst return in heart, because thou didst begin to 
weep bitterly ? Yes, O Peter, thanks to the divine good- 

1 Ps. Ixxiii. 

2 They have been republished (Prato, 1846), together with 
his sermons on the First E[;istle of St. John, and may still be 
bought. 



142 SAVONAROLA. 

ness which looked upon thee, as the Evangelist says: 
' The Lord turned and looked upon Peter ; and Peter went 
out and wept bitterly.' Thou didst not weep until the 
Lord looked upon thee ; thou didst not return in heart 
until the Lord touched thy heart. Confess then, Peter, 
that it is not by thy merits, but by the goodness of God 
that thou hast obtained such blessings." 

Such language seems to have been understood by 
some of Savonarola's biographers as indicating a ten- 
dency to Protestantism ; but this passage alone, with 
its reference to St. Peter, might show that he was in 
no respect at variance with the doctrines of the Church. 
There was, of course, a sense in which he was a fore- 
runner of the Reformation, inasmuch as he strenuously 
opposed the tyranny and denounced the corruptions 
of the Papacy ; but there is no ground for supposing 
that he had any thought of protesting against the ac- 
cepted teaching of his age. Kerker's language is hardly 
too strong when he says : -^ " When Meier and others 
find in his expressions relative to penitence and indul- 
gence something which anticipates the Reformation 
of the sixteenth century, they prove that they are not 
acquainted with the Catholic doctrine on this subject." 
So the expressions on the subject of divine grace in 
the passage quoted are simply the echoes of the lan- 
guage of Augustine, the greatest Father of the Latin 
Church.^ 

1 Wetzer and Welte's Kirchenlexicon, art. Savonarola. 

2 Hase remarks, however, with truth (Neue Propheten : 
Savonarola, s. 14) : " As a prophet of the Reformation, Savona- 
rola perceived the dawn of the ideas out of which this Reforma- 
tion afterwards proceeded, — that the Holy Scripture leads us 
to Christ, not to the saints nor to the Virgin ; that if Christ does 
not absolve you, other absolution cannot help you; that salva- 



MONASTIC REFORM. 1 43 

Savonarola's doctrine of grace did not prevent his 
holding firmly the ft-eedom of man and the necessity 
of good works. "If any one should ask," he says, 
"why the will is free, we reply, because it is the will." 
And he adds that justification, although it be the act 
of God, needs the concurrence of man. "Wilt thou, 
my brother, receive the love of Jesus Christ ? See that 
thou consent to the divine voice which calls thee. The 
Lord calls thee every day : do thou also something." 
Both in theory and in practice Savonarola was a worker, 
and held and displayed a deep faith in the power of 
work. His well-known motto,^ adopted in youth, re- 
corded by all his biographers, and repeatedly used in 
his sermons, indicates the spirit of his life. " A man," 

tion does not come from external works, such as the Church 
by its Judaizing precepts and ordinances and its refined heathen- 
ism had required, but from the surrender of the heart to the 
Redeemer, and from faith in the old, deep, and inward meaning 
of the word But he did not think of altering anything in these 
ordinances, in which for nearly a thousand years the faith of 
Western Christianity had been established." On the relation 
of Savonarola to Luther, Ranke (Studien, s. 331) remarks : " If 
we would compare him with Luther, who regarded him as his 
forerunner in teaching the doctrine of justification, we shall find 
two points of difference. Savonarola reckoned upon supernatu- 
ral signs and wonders, whilst Luther, resting simply upon the 
written word, not only despised them, but abhorred and opposed 
them. The other difference was that Savonarola held fast to 
the ideal of a council, and thought by this means to overthrow 
the Pope . . . Luther's point of departure, on the contrary, was 
his denial of the infallibility of the council as well as of the 
Pope ; and therefore he took his position outside of the hierarchy 
of the Church, whilst Savonarola held fast by this. Luther 
wished chiefly a reformation of doctrine ; Savonarola, a refor- 
mation of life and government. '' 
1 See p. 121. 



144 SAVONAROLA. 

he says, " knows as much as he works " ( Tanto sa 
ciascuno quatito opera). This theory was not in his 
mind at variance with his sense of entire dependence 
upon the grace of God, any more than it was in the 
mind of Saint Paul, or of Him who was Master of 
both. 

In closest connection with the assertion of the doc- 
trines of grace was his denunciation of the state of the 
clergy, — the paganism of their behef, and the unchris- 
tian character of their lives. 

" They speak against pride and ambition," he said, " but 
they are immersed in it up to the eyes. They preach chas- 
tity, but they keep concubines. They recommend fasting, 
but they live luxuriously. It is the Pharisaic spirit come 
to life in the rulers of Christ's Church. They love greet- 
ings in the market-place, and to be called masters and 
rabbis ; they make broad their phylacteries. They do all 
to be seen of men." 

It was about this time that he made the often-quoted 
comparison between the priests and the chalices of the 
early and the later days of the Church. Our Church, 
he says, has many beautiful ceremonies and appoint- 
ments, — candlesticks of gold and silver, and as many 
chalices as a potentate. 

*' You see great prelates with mitres of gold and precious 
stones on their heads, and a pastoral staff of silver ; you 
see them at the altar with splendid chasubles and embroid- 
ered copes, singing those vespers and those fine masses 
with so many ceremonies, with so many organs and sing- 
ers, that you are stupefied. . . . And people say that 
divine worship was never properly celebrated before, and 
that the early prelates were nothing when compared with 
these modern ones True, they had not then so many gold 



MONASTIC REFORM. 145 

mitres, nor so many chalices ; and the few that they had 
they parted with of necessity for the relief of the poor. . . . 
But do you know what I have to say to you on this ? In 
the primitive Church there were chalices of wood and pre- 
lates of gold ; in these days the Church has golden chalices 
and wooden prelates ! " 

He spares the princes no more than the prelates. 
Naturally enough, they were still worse ; and his hear- 
ers did not need to go beyond their own city for illus- 
trations of his words. The conflict between himself 
and the tyranny of the age was ever thickening. 

In the autumn of 1494 he resumed the exposition 
of the history of the flood, his sermons " On the Ark 
of Noah," which he had begun in 1492 and then 
discontinued. It is thought that the report of these 
sermons, which we possess in Latin, is a very incom- 
plete and imperfect representation of those which were 
actually delivered. It is at least certain that these 
sermons produced the greatest impression upon those 
who heard them. They were intended to complete 
the series commenced in Advent, which dealt princi- 
pally with the sins of Italy and the impending chas- 
tisement. In the Lent series of 1492 he proceeds to 
speak of the ark of safety, in which the faithful may 
escape from the coming deluge. He carried them on 
to the end of Lent; and on Easter Day he spoke of 
the completion of the ark, of the readiness of all 
things for the entrance of the people of God. The 
interest manifested in these discourses was prodi- 
gious. The cathedral was crowded with eager listen- 
ers. Savonarola was becoming more and more the 
mind, the conscience, the will of Florence. 

The whole course of sermons had not completed the 
10 



146 SAVONAROLA. 

exposition of this one chapter of Genesis ; and Savo- 
narola resumed the subject in the month of September, 
1494, when he prepared to preach thirteen additional 
sermons by way of conclusion ^ The third of these 
sermons, on the 17th verse of the chapter which speaks 
of the deluge, fell on the 21st of September. It was a 
day and a sermon never to be forgotten by the preacher 
or his hearers. The cathedral was crowded, and the 
multitudes assembled had to wait for a long time be- 
fore the preacher appeared. He ascended the pulpit 
laboring under the strongest emotion, which was vis- 
ible to the audience. Gazing across the sea of human 
faces, he gave out the words of his text in a voice of 
awful solemnity : Ecce ego adducam aquas super ter- 
ram, — "And behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of 
waters upon the earth." The words and the tone 
struck terror into every heart. Pico della Mirandola, 
who was present, relates that a shudder ran through 
his whole, frame, and his hair seemed to stand on 
end ; and Savonarola declares that he was himself 
not less moved than his hearers. The cause of this 
unusual emotion was not inadequate. The French 
had entered Italy, and the news had just arrived that 
their armies were descending the Alps. The event 
which Savonarola had expected and predicted had 
now come to pass ; and men turned to the prophet 
for guidance in their perplexities. It was a great 
crisis in his history. The friar of Bologna, the Prior 
of San Marco, the preacher of Florence, was now to 
become the statesman. 

1 These sermons are, in the Venetian edition already men- 
tioned, referred erroneously to tlae Advent of 1493. 



THE FRENCH IN ITALY. 147 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE FRENCH IN ITALY. 

The historian Gibbon speaks of the " expedition of 
Charles VIII. into Italy " as " an event which changed 
the face of Europe ; " ^ and it certainly was an event 
which entailed upon Italy, immediately and remotely, 
the most serious consequences. The gravity of the 
circumstances was felt by most of the rulers and pubhc 
men of Italy ; but few of those who were most deeply 
interested in it could have dreamed of its far-reaching 
and enduring effects. 

It has been charged against Savonarola that he showed 
a lack of patriotism in encouraging the invasion of Italy 
by a foreign army \ but a judgment of this kind implies 
a forgetfulness both of the prevalent ideas of the period, 
and of the part which the great Dominican actually took 
in the transactions of his times. The idea of interven- 
tion was one which was perfectly familiar and natural 
in that age. Independent States, as we understand the 
word, were very few. The republics of Italy were, in 
theory at least, dependent upon the Empire ; moreover, 
they hardly ever went to war without allies. In the 

1 Critical Researches concerning the Title of Charles VIII. 
to the Crown of Naples ; in Miscellaneous Works, iii. 206. See 
also Philippe de Commines, liv. vii. c. i., who treats the claims of 
his master with almost undisguised contempt. 



1 48 SA VON AR OLA. 

case of international disputes leading to war, there was 
generally a confederation of one set of States against 
another. There was also frequently an appeal to a 
power external to the contending parties. 

The natural and, in theory, the rightful superior of the 
Italian States, to whom all their disputes ought to have 
been referred, was the Emperor. But the Empire had 
long ceased to be more than a name to Italy, and any 
appeal to the German Caesar would have been valueless. 
Besides, France had been the old ally of Florence, and 
was one with the republic in its Guelfic policy. The 
imperial interests were represented by the Ghibelline 
party. To the contemporaries of Savonarola there was 
nothing disloyal or unnatural in the desire for an alliance 
with France. 

It is true that Savonarola hailed with satisfaction the 
'/ 1 French invasion of Italy, and saluted Charles VIII. as 
the " New Cyrus ; " but it was because he believed that 
Italy needed to be scourged before it could be regener- 
ated, and because he saw in the French king the instru- 
ment of God for effecting this purpose. It is true, also, 
that King Charles referred to the prophecies of Savona- 
rola as giving a sanction to his enterprise ; but there 
were others besides himself who thought they saw the 
hand of God guiding the expedition, and it is quite 
certain that Savonarola's words formed a very slight 
proportion of the complex influences by which he was 
induced to lead his army into Italy. 

Charles himself was a man with little capacity for 
such an undertaking. He must have been of a kindly 
disposition and of pleasant manners, otherwise he could 
hardly have been surnamed " The Affable," or have been 
so deeply regretted by his family when he died. He was, 



/ 



THE FRENCH IN ITALY. 1 49 

says De Commines, so good, so kindly, " that it is not 
possible to see a better creature." But he was most 
insignificant in appearance, being short of stature and 
very feeble in body ; and his mental powers were of the 
most slender character, while his education had been 
almost entirely neglected. " But for the power and 
dignity of his eyes," says Guicciardini,^ " he would have 
been terribly ugly." As regards attainments, it is said 
that he scarcely knew the letters of the alphabet. But 
he had, notwithstanding, inherited the ambitious senti- 
ments of his father, the crafty and resolute Louis XI. ; 
and having consolidated the French kingdom by the 
union of the great Province of Brittany through his 
marriage with the Duchess Anne, he began to turn his 
eyes eastward, and dreamed of rivalling the fame of 
Saint Louis by leading another crusade against the Turks. 
As a first step, he undertook to vindicate his supposed 
rights to the crown of Naples. 

Those rights hardly deserve investigation at our hands. 
There are few questions more difficult to decide than 
the comparative claims of the houses of Arragon and 
Anjou to the kingdom of Naples ; and it would be im- 
. possible to decide the questions on principles which are 
now generally recognized. The law of succession was 
at that time very vague and uncertain. In some cases 
the right of a sovereign to nominate his successor, or 
to decide between two claimants, was acknowledged. 
The stain of illegitimacy was not in all cases regarded 
as a bar to inheritance. All these questions come up in 
the discussion of the subject. The French claim was 

1 D' aspetto (se tu lievi il vigore et la degnita degli occhi) 
bruttissimo, e 1' altre membre proportionate in mode, che e' pareva 
quasi piu simile al mostro, che a huomo. — Istoria d ' Italia, lib. i. 



150 SAVONAROLA. 

certainly very doubtful. If the rights of the house of 
Arragon were not absolute, they had at least sixty years 
of posesssion and the consent of their subjects. On 
the other hand, the tyranny of Ferdinand, the ruling 
sovereign, and his son Alfonso had stirred up rebellion 
among his people, and many of them joined in urging 
the French king to press his claims. 

The actual undertaking was brought about in a strange 
manner. The daughter of Ferdinand was married to 
Gian Galeazzo Sforza, the lawful Duke of Milan, whose 
inheritance had been seized by his uncle Ludovico, 
known, from his dark complexion, as " The Moor " 
(// Moro). Ferdinand was incited by his daughter to 
assert the rights of her husband, who was kept in con- 
finement by his uncle. Ludovico, seeing a league in 
process of formation against him, urged Charles of 
France to assert his claims to the crown of Naples, 
promising him assistance on his descent upon Italy. 
The scheme at first appeared so utterly chimerical that 
there was hardly a Frenchman who could be found to 
advise the king to undertake it. Only two of the king's 
councillors, both of them men of no consideration, were 
in favor of the enterprise, and one of these speedily 
changed his mind. " So that we may conclude," says 
De Commines, " that this whole expedition, both going 
and coming, was conducted purely by God; for the 
wisdom of the contrivers of this scheme contributed 
but httle."^ 

The condition of Italy was at this time the most 
tranquil and prosperous.^ Guicciardini, in beginning 

1 Memoires, liv. vii. c. i. 

2 Guicciardini, lib. i. c. i. ; Christophe, Papaute pendant le 
quinzieme siecle, liv. xv. 



THE FRENCH IN ITALY. 151 

his history, pauses before proceeding to narrate the 
calamities which befell his country, and looks back upon 
the wealth and glory which excited the admiration, and 
alas ! also the cupidity, of the foreigner. He speaks with 
enthusiasm of those great republics, then at the summit 
of their power, — of their numerous inhabitants, of their 
beauty, of the splendor of their towns, of their proud 
independence, of the magnificence of their princes, rival- 
ling that of the greatest sovereigns. Italy was in truth 
the most civilized country in Europe, and the most ad- 
vanced in all that constitutes real progress, — in liberty, 
in the development of industry, in literature and arts, in 
wealth. The Italians were not only the teachers of 
learning, of science, of art, they were the bankers of the 
kings of the earth. These potentates were frequently 
unable to determine whether they were in a position to 
go to war, until they had first ascertained whether they 
could obtain a loan from the bankers of Venice, of 
Genoa, or of Florence. If this prosperity was degen- 
erating into luxury, if the moral condition of the country 
was becoming worse and worse, if faith and virtue were 
dying out in the hearts of the people and their teachers, 
these seeds of evil had not yet brought forth all their 
corrupt fruits. In one respect the Italians were inferior 
to the other nations of Europe, — they had no soldiers. 
The military art was almost unknown. Battles are re- 
ported to have been fought by multitudes of men, in 
which hardly a combatant perished.-^ The French army, 
on the contrary, if partly composed of inferior materials, 
had a large number of trained and experienced soldiers. 

1 Machiavelli says that frequently two armies were engaged 
for hours without a man perishing, except those who fell and 
were trodden to death by the horses ! 



152 SAVONAROLA. 

Consequently, when they entered Italy, they met with 
no serious opposition. Moreover, if the governments of 
Italy regarded the invasion of their country with appre- 
hension and aversion, the people at large were for the 
most part on the side of the French, and welcomed 
their arrival. 

There was indeed no effective opposition offered to 
their progress. The Pope, after joining with Ludovico 
il Moro in inviting the invasion, had turned round and 
sided with the Neapolitans ; but he was not prepared 
to take action. Piero de' Medici was the devoted friend 
of the house of Arragon ; but the city of Florence was 
equally devoted to the French, and the most powerful 
voice among them only expressed the sentiments of the 
populace when it welcomed the coming of Charles. 
Venice was neutral, Milan was with them, Naples was 
almost in revolution. Ferdinand, troubled and anxious, 
and consumed with remorse, had died in abject misery 
at the beginning of this year (Jan. 25, 1494). His son 
Alfonso, who succeeded him, prepared as best he could 
to meet the approaching invaders. 

Even at the last moment the French king hesitated 
and drew back from the perilous enterprise, when he 
received new encouragement from an unexpected quar- 
ter. At Lyons he was joined by the resolute Giuhano 
della Rovere, cardinal of San Pietro in Vincoli, well 
known in future history as Julius II. He was one of 
the few cardinals who could not be bribed to vote for 
the election of Rodrigo Borgia to the Papacy ; and 
when this man ascended the throne under the name of 
Alexander VI., the cardinal never laid aside the bitter 
enmity and contempt with which he regarded the power- 
ful but abandoned pontiff, whom he pronounced to be a 



THE FRENCH IN ITALY. 153 

" miscreant and a heretic." ^ Resolute in his determi- 
nation to oppose in every possible way the man whom 
he regarded as a disgrace to the Church, he not only 
planned the assembling of a council, in order to obtain 
his deposition, but he made his escape into France, and 
used all his influence to induce the king to undertake 
the invasion of Italy. He told him that by his procras- 
tination he was imperilling not only his own honor but 
that of his whole people. At last the king put his 
army in motion, Aug. 12, 1494, and crossing the Monte 
Ginevra, he arrived at Asti, where he was met by 
Ludovico. 

Here the king, abandoning himself to pleasure and 
dissipation, brought on an illness by which he was de- 
tained at Asti for a month. When he recovered he 
proceeded to Pavia, where he visited his relative, the 
dispossessed Gian Galeazzo, kept here by his uncle, and 
now prostrated by disease. Isabella of Arragon, his 
wife, made an appeal to Charles, by which he was 
greatly moved ; so that he promised to use his influence 
to obtain their release. He was relieved from his 
embarrassment by the news of the young man's death, 
which shortly afterwards reached him. His uncle was 
gi'avely suspected of having slowly poisoned him. 

While hesitating as to his future route, the king heard 
of the success of the French arms in other quarters. 
D'Aubigny, who had been sent with a small army into 
Romagna, had met with no opposition. The Duke of 
Orleans had repulsed the Neapolitan fleet at Genoa, and 
had taken Rapallo and put the garrison to the sword, 
besides slaying the whole of the inhabitants, includ- 
ing forty sick persons in their beds. The Italians were 

^ Marrano ed eretico. 



154 SAVONAROLA. 

unaccustomed to such ferocity in war, and the whole 
country was terror-stricken at the intelligence. The 
king was further confirmed in his resolution by the 
arrival of Giovanni and Lorenzo de' Medici, cousins of 
Piero, who came to tell him that Florence and all 
Tuscany was on his side. The order was now given to 
advance. The campaign under the king was conducted 
.with the same savage cruelty which had distinguished 
the Swiss under the Duke of Orleans. The castle of 
Fivizzano was taken, and the inhabitants put to the 
sword. The invaders received their first check when 
they arrived before the fortress of Sarzana. 

The French and the Florentines had been ancient 
allies ; and King Charles, before undertaking the expe- 
dition, had ordered the ambassadors whom he sent into 
Italy to solicit the friendship of the Medici and their 
city. He desired them to urge the old friendship 
existing between the two peoples ; to remind the Flor- 
entines that Charlemagne had rebuilt their city, and 
that other French kings had afforded them assistance in 
their wars. The audacity of these assertions would 
seem more astonishing if the fable of the rebuilding of 
the city had not been received as history at that period, 
and if we were not somewhat familiar with the ludicrous 
notion that Charles the Great, a German king, was a 
Frenchman. The Florentines, however, did not need 
arguments, good or bad, to make them favorable to the 
French ; and Piero de' Medici was so infatuated with 
the Neapolitan alliance, and perhaps so doubtful of the 
reality of the enterprise, that he gave no heed to them. 
As he would not receive the invaders as friends, they 
prepared to enter Tuscany as enemies. 

The feeble and irresolute Piero now began to tremble 



THE FRENCH IN ITALY. 1 55 

for the result of his alliance with Naples. The rapid 
advance of the French seemed to paralyze what power 
of thought and action he possessed. If he had even 
now taken measures to give effect to his policy, he 
might have seriously embarrassed the invaders, perhaps 
even have finally checked their advance. While he 
hesitated, Florence was in confusion. The popular feel- 
ing here, as elsewhere throughout the cities of Italy, had 
always been on the side of the French ; and the people 
were incensed as well as alarmed to think that they 
must meet as an enemy one whom they regarded as a 
friend. Piero at first thought of resistance, and sent 
reinforcements to the garrison of Sarzana ; but suddenly- 
changing his mind, he determined to try the effect of 
personal negotiation with the king. 

Some years before, when war was being waged be- 
tween Florence and Naples, his father, Lorenzo, had 
conceived the bold project of venturing himself alone 
into the hands of the king of Naples ; and he had 
carried out his purpose with so much courage and ad- 
dress that he had secured honorable terms for his 
country. Piero determined to attempt the same experi- 
ment with the king of France. Imitations are not often 
successful, for the reason perhaps that they ignore the 
circumstances in which the original example was shown ; 
but the imitation of a brave and capable man by one 
who is timid and incapable is almost certainly doomed 
to failure. 

Accompanied by ambassadors from the repubhc, he 
set forth on his journey. On his way he found that his 
reinforcements had been met and defeated by the 
French ; but they had attempted in vain to get posses- 
sion of the fort of Sarzanello. In spite of this failure. 



156 SAVONAROLA. 

which might have been repeated, in spite of the fact 
that other and still greater obstacles stood in the way of 
the invaders, and probably fearing lest any attempts at 
resistance on his part should not be supported by his 
countrymen, he resolved to make every concession 
which might be demanded of him. Without communi- 
cating with the ambassadors, he at once consented to 
surrender to the king the three fortresses of Sarzana, 
Sarzanello, and Pietra Santa, which were immediately 
given up. He also promised to pay a subsidy, and to 
yield up the fortresses of Pisa and Livorno, on condition 
of their being restored after the conquest of Naples ; 
thus giving the French virtual possession of the whole 
country. The French king might well conclude that 
" God was manifestly conducting their enterprise." ^ 

When the ambassadors returned to Florence and 
made known the terms conceded by the unworthy Piero, 
the wrath of the citizens knew no bounds. It was not 
only that the conditions were ignominious beyond ex- 
ample, but they had been entered into without authority 
from the rulers of the State and without the concur- 
rence of the ambassadors. Even those who had hitherto 
been supporters of the Medici now openly fell away 
from them. It was easier, however, to quarrel with the 
existing state of things than to know how to inaugurate 
a better. The Florentines had lost the sense of liberty, 
and the sense of power by which it is accompanied. 
Accustomed to lean upon the family which had now 
betrayed them, they knew not how to set to work so as 

1 De Commines (liv. vii. c. 9) says : " If Sarzana had been fur- 
nished as it ought to have been, the king's army had certainly 
been ruined in besieging it ; for the country is mountainous and 
barren, full of snow, and not able to supply us with provisions." 



THE FRENCH IN ITALY. 1 57 

to act for themselves. There was only one man in 
whom general confidence was reposed. They turned to 
the cathedral, expecting and desiring the guidance of 
Savonarola. 

It would be well for those who think of the Frate as 
a wild fanatic eager for power, burning with hatred 
against the Medici, and unscrupulous in his denuncia- 
tion of the enslavers of Florence, to study his conduct 
at this crisis. One word from him, and the city would 
have been given up to revolt and confusion. One word 
from him, and the palace of the Medici and all its 
treasures would have perished forever. No one who 
considers the state of the popular mind, the readiness 
of the people to follow the guidance of one in whom 
they confided, and the influence possessed by Savo- 
narola, will doubt the truth of this assertion. 

When the time came to address the anxious and ex- 
cited multitudes which thronged the Duomo, Savonarola 
was evidently oppressed by a painful sense of the gravity 
of the occasion. He felt that a fearful responsibility now 
devolved upon him, and that a word spoken rashly or 
imprudently might have terrible consequences. Instead 
of denouncing the authors of these calamities, he set 
forth the mercy and patience of God as an example to 
His people, and with earnest voice and gesture coun- 
selled union and brotherly love. Yet he could not avoid 
referring to the fulfilment of the predictions which he 
had so frequently uttered in their ears. 

" Now," he exclaimed, " the sword has come, the prophe- 
cies are fulfilled, the scourges have begun. It is the 
Lord who guides these armies, O Florence ! The time of 
songs and dances has passed away ; it is now time to be- 
wail thy sins with rivers of tears. Thy sins, O Florence ! 



158 SAVONAROLA. 

thy sins, O Rome ! thy sins, O Italy ! are the cause of these 
stripes. And now repent, give alms, offer prayers, become 
united. O people ! I have been a father to thee ; I have 
wearied myself all the days of my life to make known to 
thee the truths of the faith and of holy living, and I have 
had nothing but tribulations, derision, and reproach. May 
I have at least the reward of seeing thee do good works ! 
My people, what else have I desired than to see thee safe, 
than to see thee united ? Repent, for the kingdom of 
heaven is at hand. . . .'' 

Again, turning his speech into prayer, he cries out : 

" I turn to Thee, my Lord, who didst die for love of us 
and for our sins. Pardon, O Lord, pardon the people of 
Florence, who now desire to be Thine ! " 

He left the pulpit exhausted by the effort ; but the 
words which he had uttered were not unavailing. His 
earnest exhortations to peace and charity and unity so 
moved the people that they remained quiet, their pas- 
sions so kept in check by the hand which was now con- 
trolHng them that no excesses were committed. 

The helpless condition of dependence into which 
this great city, once so free, so proud, and so turbulent, 
had fallen, became more than ever conspicuous when 
the leading men of the State assembled to take counsel 
as to their future action. Notwithstanding the ever- 
increasing hatred with which the mass of the people 
regarded the Medici, they shrank from the measures 
which some of the bolder began to advise. When Luca 
Corsini rose, without the usual request from the Signoria, 
and declared that everything had gone wrong with them, 
and steps must be taken to prevent the ruin with which 
they were threatened, he was met with astonishment and 



THE FRENCH IN ITALY. 159 

alarm, instead of applause and support. The sentiment 
of his hearers so reacted upon himself that he sat down 
in confusion, unable to proceed with his address. 

He was followed by a young man named Jacopo di 
Tanai de' Nerli, who enforced the words that had just 
been spoken. Yet he too began to hesitate, as though 
abashed at his own audacity ; and his father instantly 
arose and asked that the words of his son might be 
excused, in consideration of his youth. But there was 
one voice which did not fear to utter the thoughts that 
were laboring in many breasts, nor to point out the duty 
that was now incumbent upon the rulers of the republic. 
It was the voice of a man who bore a name illustrious 
in the annals of Florence, Piero di Gino Capponi. 

There was something in the commanding appearance 
of the man, and there was in him a youthful impetuosity 
which his gray hairs had not tamed, which made the 
multitude listen with deep attention and respect to the 
few brief but resolute words which he uttered. He said : 

" Piero de' Medici is no longer capable of guiding the 
State. The republic must see to itself; it is time to have 
done with this government of children. Let ambassadors 
be sent to King Charles. If they meet Piero, let them not 
salute him. Let them explain to the king that all the mis- 
chief has come from Piero, and that the city is friendly to 
the French. Let them be men of distinction, who will not 
fail to receive the king with all courtesy ; but at the same 
time let them call in from the country the commanders 
with their soldiers, and let them conceal themselves in the 
convents and other secret places, together with the men- 
at-arms, and let them hold themselves ready in case of need. 
So that while we omit nothing that is right and due to- 
wards this most Christian king, nor fail to satisfy with 
money the avaricious nature of the French, we may be able, 



l6o SAVONAROLA. 

if he should have recourse to acts and proposals which we 
cannot endure, to show him our face and our arms. And 
above all, let us not fail to send along with the other am- 
bassadors Father Girolamo Savonarola, who now possesses 
the entire affection of the people." 

It wanted only such clear and decided utterances, 
which did but interpret the confused thoughts now strug- 
gling in the minds of the multitude, to decide their 
action. The ambassadors were elected on the 5 th of 
November, and among them were Capponi himself, 
Nerli, and Savonarola. 

It was the custom of the Frate to make his journeys 
on foot; so that the other ambassadors departed by 
themselves, and he followed, accompanied by two of 
the brethren of his convent. Before setting out he 
preached again to the people, and told them that it was 
God who had heard their prayers and was interposing 
for their safety.'^ 

" He alone has come to the help of this city, when all 
have abandoned it. . . . Persevere then, O people of Flor- 
ence ! persevere in good works, persevere in peace. If thou 
desire that the Lord persevere in compassion, be thou com- 
passionate towards thy brethren, towards thy friends, to- 
wards thine enemies. Otherwise there will fall upon thee 
the blows which are preparing for the rest of Italy. ' I will 
have mercy,' the Lord is calling to you. Woe to him who 
does not obey His commands ! " 

The ambassadors found the king at Lucca, preparing 
to depart, and they had their first interview with him 
in that city. Piero de' Medici remained with him ; but 
the ambassadors, faithful to the resolutions taken at the 

1 This sermon, like the last, is among the Prediche sopra Aggeo 
(Villari). 



THE FRENCH IN ITALY. l6l 

advice of Capponi, showed him no respect, and brought 
him no message from the repubHc. Apprehensive of 
danger to his interests in Florence, he did his best to 
conciliate the king by promising him a sum of two hun- 
dred thousand ducats. Instructing Paolo Orsini, his 
mother's brother, to get together his soldiers and re- 
tainers and to follow him to Florence, he hastened back 
to the city, which he reached on the 8th of November. 

The interview between King Charles and the am- 
bassadors at Lucca was short, in consequence of the 
preparations he was making for his departure for Pisa. 
He received them very graciously, however, and seemed 
disposed to regard the wishes of the republic with favor. 
When, however, they followed him to Pisa and were 
permitted to have a second interview with him, they 
found he had been so influenced by the representations 
and promises made by Piero de' Medici before his 
departure that he hstened with great coldness to the 
requests which they preferred on behalf of the State. 
He would make no promises, but simply said " he 
would arrange everything when he was within the great 
city." The ambassadors were forced to depart with the 
conviction that the king was anything but favorable to 
the city. 

The arrival of Savonarola produced a greater impres- 
sion upon the king and his court. Passing through the 
camp and the multitudes of armed men unmoved, he 
cam.e into the presence of King Charles and proceeded 
to discharge his commission, which he believed to be 
derived not so much from the Signoria of Florence as 
from the King of kings. It was with this feeling, and 
in a manner and tone indicating this conviction, that he 
began his address. 

II 



1 62 SAVONAROLA. 

" O most Christian king," he said, " thou art an instru- 
ment in the hand of the Lord, who sendeth thee to relieve 
the evils of Italy (as I have for several years predicted), 
and chargeth thee to reform the Church, which lies pros- 
trate on the earth ! But if thou wilt not be just and merci- 
ful ; if thou dost not respect the city of Florence, its 
women, its citizens, its liberty ; if thou forgettest the work 
on which the Lord sends thee, then He will choose another 
to fulfil it, and He will in anger lay His heavy hand upon 
thee, and will punish thee with terrible scourges. These 
things I tell thee in the name of the Lord." 

The king and his nobles listened to Savonarola as to 
a prophet sent from God, knowing that he had predicted 
their invasion of Italy ; and they were evidently far 
more favorably disposed towards the interests of Flor- 
ence than they had been before the arrival of the Frate. 

How little dependence, however, was to be placed 
upon the promises of the French king, how little capable 
he was even of understanding the position of affairs in 
Italy and his own relation to them, was shown by his 
conduct before he left Pisa. This city had for long 
been subject to Florence. In some respects the very 
greatness of Florence depended upon its possession of 
Pisa, inasmuch as it lay between it and the sea. The 
relationship had never been a kindly one. The readi- 
ness to revolt on the one side had led to oppression 
and tyranny on the other. It was therefore inevitable 
that Pisa should seek every opportunity of casting off 
the grievbus yoke under which it suffered. Here was 
a chance which could not be neglected ; and the citi- 
zens made the most touching appeals to King Charles 
to restore their liberty. As De Commines remarks, the 
king knew very little of the meaning of this appeal; but 



THE FRENCH IN ITALY. 1 63 

he could not help understanding the afifiictions of these 
people, and he replied, " he was willing it should be so ; 
though (to speak truth)," adds his candid minister, " he 
had no authority to grant it, for the town was not his 
own, and he was received into it only in friendship, and , 
to relieve him in his great necessities." The Pisans 
showed their gratitude by pulling down the lion of 
Florence and setting up a statue of the king in its place, 
with the lion under his horse's feet. " When the king 
of the Romans came to that town," says the same writer, 
" they served the statue of the king of France as they 
had served the lion ; for it is the nature of the Italians 
to side always with the strongest, — rather to use the 
strongest, as far as they can, for their own ends. But 
these Pisans were, and still are, so barbarously treated 
that they might be excused for what they did." 

Piero de' Medici, as we have heard, arrived in Flor- 
ence on the 8th of November ; and although he was 
prepared to find a change in the bearing of the authori- 
ties towards himself, he must have been surprised at the 
coldness of the reception which was accorded to him, — 
a coldness which was speedily converted into active 
opposition. The day after his arrival he presented 
himself at the palace of the Signoria with the intention 
of calling a parliament of the whole people, and having 
the government of the republic intrusted to himself 
alone. But the magistrates, warned of his design, re- 
ceived him in the most chilling manner, admitted only 
a small number of the multitude he had brought with 
him, and told him to send his people away and not 
create a tumult in the city. He was so confused by 
this reception that he could only say he would consider 
what he should do, and took his departure. 



1 64 SA VON AR OLA. 

The next day he determined to assume a more 
threatening aspect ; and he presented himself at the 
palace, accompanied by a number of armed men. But 
he was informed that no person could be admitted 
unless he was without arms ; and he was forced to turn 
away. He had hardly done so when he was recalled by 
the influence of Antonio Lorini, the one member of 
the Signoria who still remained faithful to the Medici. 
Presuming on this invitation as a sign that he was still 
in possession of his former authority, he adopted his 
old tone of insolent dictation, when NerH shut the door 
in his face. The people, who became aware of what 
was passing, needed no more to let loose their wrath 
and contempt. He was saluted everywhere with hoots 
and hisses and showers of stones. The bell of the 
Signoria now began to ring, and the people rushed, 
some armed, some unarmed, to the Piazza. Hardly 
had they begun to assemble in front of the palace when 
a fresh incident occurred which inflamed their fury. 
Francesco Valori, whom we have mentioned as one of 
the five citizens sent by Lorenzo to Savonarola with 
a view of inducing him to desist from his manner of 
preaching, had been a devoted friend of the Medici. 
It would appear, however, that the Prior of St. Mark's 
had acquired by degrees no slight influence over him, 
although he had still remained faithful to the ruling 
family. He was a man of an ardent and generous dis- 
position, and the recent conduct of Piero had utterly 
alienated him ; so that he now became one of the 
leaders of the popular party. It was this man who now 
appeared in the Piazza, covered with dust, having ridden 
all the way from Pisa, where he had left the ambas- 
sadors after their interview with the king. The excited 



THE FRENCH IN ITALY. 165 

multitude heard from him, with ever-increasing rage, 
that at Lucca the king had shown himself well disposed 
towards them, but that in consequence of the entreaties 
and the promises of Piero he had afterwards received 
them with great coldness at Pisa. It needed no more 
to rouse the populace to fury. Raising the cry of Ab- 
basso le palle, — " Down with the balls, " — the rallying 
word of the Medici, they rushed forth to attack their 
palace.-^ 

While this was going on the Medici had not been 
idle. Believing in the power of their name and their 
old-estabUshed authority, they gathered together their 
armed retainers and sought to arouse their supporters in 
the city. But the cry of Palle had lost its power. No 
one responded to it, and many threatened them from 
the windows of the houses. The Cardinal Giovanni, son 
of Lorenzo, afterwards Pope Leo X., was the foremost in 
defence of his family. But Piero had already consulted 
for his own safety. Seeing the multitude approaching, 
with Valori at their head, and learning that his family 
had been declared rebels, he set out for Bologna, where 
he received a very cold welcome from Bentivoglio. " I 
would rather have been cut to pieces," said the haughty 
aristocrat, " than give up my State," — a boast which 
was but very Httle verified by his own subsequent conduct. 
Piero continued his flight until at last he found rest at 
Venice, — the same city in which his great-grandfather 
Cosimo, but with far greater dignity, had taken refuge 
when he was driven away by the conspiracy of the 
Albizzi. He had hardly arrived at Venice when he 
received a message from the French king desiring his 

1 The cry of the partisans of the Medici was Palle, Palle, from 
the balls in the armorial bearings of the family. 



1 66 SAVONAROLA. 

return to Florence ; but he lacked courage and resolu- 
tion to take a step which might have changed the whole 
history of his family and of Florence. 

The cardinal had shown a more resolute spirit ; but 
he too, at last, was forced to make his escape. He did 
not depart until he had done his best to save the most 
valuable parts of the splendid collection of objects of 
art in the family mansion. It was a remarkable proof 
of his own confidence in the brethren of St. Mark, and 
of the respect in which they were held in Florence, that 
he committed these treasures to their keeping. 

Florence was thus expecting, in confusion and terror, 
the approach of the French, when Savonarola returned 
to announce that the king seemed again better disposed 
to the people, and to urge them to make preparations to 
receive him. His counsels were seconded by the efforts 
of Capponi, who had now become the foremost man in 
the practical direction of the State. By his advice the 
houses were stocked with all the munitions of war, and 
armed men were disposed throughout the city and kept 
ready in case of need. Six thousand were prepared to 
come forth at the first stroke of the bell. 

When the advance guard of the French army en- 
tered Florence they could not conceal their astonish- 
ment at the splendor of the palaces and the general 
magnificence of the city. By an accident they were 
made aware that the conquest of the place was not so 
simple a matter as they had anticipated. On the 15th 
of November a rumor had spread abroad that Piero de' 
Medici was approaching. The bell sounded, the people 
crowded forth in multitudes, clad in armor, and filled the 
Piazza, the palaces were closed, the towers were armed, 
fortifications began to arise. The falseness of the rumor 



THE FRENCH IN ITALY. 167 

was speedily discovered, and instantly the former calm 
prevailed. But the impression had been made upon 
the French that these people would be difficult to sub- 
due, and the Florentines had shown that they were not 
unprepared for the last extremity. 

The palace of the Medici had been got ready for the 
king, and the magistrates and the leading men of Flor- 
ence prepared to receive him with a respectful welcome. 
Charles rode at the head of his splendid army ; but his 
magnificent attire only rendered more conspicuous the 
ludicrous insignificance of his person. By his side rode 
the Cardinal of San Pietro in Vincoli. The sight of 
such an army, amounting to about twelve thousand men, 
marching in perfect order, was as striking as it was new 
to the inhabitants of Florence. They passed over the 
Ponte Vecchio in the midst of floral decorations and to 
the sound of music, through the Piazza, and so on to 
the cathedral, where they joined with the Signoria in 
public prayer. The king was then lodged in the palace 
of the Medici. The whole city was illuminated in honor 
of their guests, and the next day was spent in feasts. 

At last the time for the negotiations arrived. The 
representatives of Florence, elected by the Signoria, 
were Guidantonio Vespucci, Domenico Bonsi, Francesco 
Valori, and Piero Capponi. Of the two last names we 
have already heard. Vespucci was considered the most 
learned of the citizens in law, and Bonsi had distin- 
guished himself as an ambassador. Capponi, who took 
the lead in the interview with the king, had been hon- 
ored and trusted by Lorenzo de' Medici, whose senior 
he was by one year, and had displayed courage and 
ability in the discharge of the duties intrusted to him 
by " The Magnificent." Since the death of Lorenzo he 



1 68 SAVONAROLA. 

had been the man of the State most trusted in ever)' 
difficult enterprise. He had always had a repugnance 
to the tyranny of the Medici and a love of popular gov- 
ernment, and since the accession of Piero he had been 
looked upon as one of the leaders of the party opposed 
to him. He knew the French people well, having been 
sent as ambassador to their court, and he did not hesi- 
tate to declare his opinion that "When the Italians 
came face to face with the French, they would cease to 
have so much fear of them." These convictions were 
not without their effect in his future dealings with the 
king. 

Here, as elsewhere, Charles habitually acted without 
any fixed principles, according to the impulse of the 
moment and the influences which were nearest and most 
powerful at the time. Although Piero had fled, his 
mother and his wife did not fail to use every argument 
to induce the king to favor their side ; so that he ap- 
peared inclined to espouse the cause of the Medici. He 
assumed an aspect of severity towards the commissioners 
of the republic ; he put forth the most exorbitant de- 
mands as the conditions of peace ; he took the attitude 
of one who was dealing with a conquered city. Finally, 
he let fall some words in favor of the exiled Piero. This 
was the signal for grave deliberations on the part of the 
magistrates, who instantly called together the leading citi- 
zens and apprised them of the threatening danger. Prep- 
arations were made for summoning the people together 
by the sound of the bell, and a spirit of enmity began 
to spring up between the invaders and the populace. 

At last the king began to moderate his tone. He 
dropped all reference to the " conquest" of the city ; he 
said nothing more of Piero ; he was to take the title — 



THE FRENCH IN ITALY. 1 69 

one which had been held by foreign sovereigns in earlier 
times — of protector of the liberties of the city ; he was 
to retain the fortresses for two years, or for a shorter time 
if the war should be concluded sooner. All was arranged 
except the sum of money he was to receive. On this 
point the promises of the Medici made him exacting. 
It was impossible for the Signoria to promise what the 
city could not pay, and the situation became more and 
more anxious and irritating. At last the king ordered 
his ultimatum to be read, declaring that he would not 
recede from it. The commissioners said they were un- 
able to comply with his demands. The king, enraged 
at their resistance, exclaimed, " Then we will sound our 
trumpets." Capponi had with difficulty restrained him- 
self during the negotiations ; but the brave, proud spirit 
of the Florentine now broke forth. Snatching the ulti- 
matum from the hands of the secretary, he tore it in 
pieces, and uttered, with a gesture as impassioned as the 
king's own, the memorable words : " And we will ring 
our bells." They were words of which Florence was 
forever proud. Machiavelli refers to them when he says, 
in one of his poems, " The noise of arms and horses 
could not drown the voice of one capon (Cappon) in 
the midst of a hundred cocks (Galli)." This courage- 
ous language. had more effect than many entreaties. It 
was agreed that the Florentines should pay the king 
120,000 florins in three instalments, and that Pisa should 
be surrendered, with the other fortresses, in two years, 
or sooner if the war ended before. The conditions of 
the treaty were sworn to in the cathedral ; and the city, 
if it had lost its first warmth of feeling for the French, 
gave itself up to festivals and illuminations as at their 
first entrance. 



1 70 SA VONAROLA. 

All seemed now satisfactorily arranged ; but the king 
showed no disposition to depart. Trade was suspended, 
French soldiers filled the city, disorders of all kinds pre- 
vailed, and the king was in vain entreated to take his 
leave. In this emergency it was to Savonarola that the 
citizens again had recourse. The Frate did not hesitate 
to approach the king ; and he effected his purpose in 
spite of the opposition offered by the noblemen and 
officers round him, who feared lest his influence with 
their master should prevent their contemplated plunder 
of the place. Charles received him with kindness, and 
listened attentively to the few earnest words which he 
uttered : — 

" Most Christian Prince," said the friar, "thy delay in- 
flicts serious injury upon the city and upon thine enterprise. 
Thou art wasting time, forgetting the duty which Providence 
has imposed upon thee, with great hurt to thy spiritual 
safety and thy worldly glory. Listen, therefore, to the voice 
of the servant of God. Go forth upon thy way without delay. 
Do not cause the ruin of this city, and excite against thee 
the wrath of the Lord." 

The part taken by Savonarola in bringing about the 
departure of the French has been both exaggerated 
and denied. It would not be correct to say that he 
procured the terms of agreement between the repubhc 
and the French king. The merit of that arrangement 
must be conceded to Capponi. But it would be equally 
unjust to overlook the importance of Savonarola's influ- 
ence in giving effect to the treaty. Charles was too 
unscrupulous to care much whether he carried out the 
stipulations into which he had entered, either in the 
letter or in the spirit ; and it was undoubtedly owing to 
Savonarola that he now resolved to go forth out of 



THE FRENCH IN ITALY. 1 71 

Florence. He left the city on the 28th of November. 
Few regrets could have been entertained at the departure 
of the French. They had behaved with insolence during 
the eleven days of their sojourn, and had in no wise 
treated the citizens as friends, but as enemies ; although 
the resolute enmity of that one city might have ruined 
their whole enterprise. The palace of the Medici, in 
which the king had been royally entertained, was left a 
mere wreck. 

Savonarola had now seen a considerable portion of 
his predictions fulfilled, and everything was concurring 
to raise him higher in the public estimation. Not only 
were his most deadly enemies, the Medici, driven from 
the city, but in this very year two of the most attached 
friends of that family gave, in their last moments, the most 
convincing proof of their entire confidence in Savonarola. 
Angelo Poliziano died in September, at the age of forty, 
and requested that he might be buried in St. Mark's, 
in the Dominican habit ; and Pico della Mirandola the 
elder died on November 17th — the very day on which 
Charles entered Florence — and made the same request. 
They sleep side by side in the convent church. It may 
have comforted them, passing away almost in their youth, 
to think that they would lie near the remains of him who 
had moved them so powerfully for good. They did 
not know, nor did Florence herself, what end she was 
preparing for her greatest man. 



172 SAVONAROLA. 



CHAPTER X. 

REVOLUTION. 

It is one of the miserable consequences of despotism 
tiiat it disqualifies a people for the exercise of liberty- 
after they have thrown off the yoke of bondage. It was 
comparatively easy for the Florentines, under the circum- 
stances, to make an end to the tyranny of the Medici. 
It was a far more difficult matter to recover those habits 
and sentiments of independence and self-reliance which 
they had lost during the sixty years of subserviency to 
that powerful family. When the French had taken 
their departure, the real difficulties of the city were first 
clearly apprehended. 

The ordinary method with the Florentines of effecting 
a change in the manner of government had been the 
summoning of a parlamento, or assembly of the whole 
people. This assembly was usually called by the Signoria. 
At the sound of the bell the people came unarmed into the 
Piazza, and were addressed by the magistrates from the 
Ringhiera, — a platform in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, 
as it is now most commonly called. The first step was the 
appointment of a balia^ or committee with authority to 
decide on the government of the State, or on any other 
weighty matter that might be intrusted to it. Nothing 

^ The word means "power," or "authority," and was applied 
to the committee intrusted with authority. 



REVOLUTION. 1 73 

could seem better adapted to elicit the true feelings 
of the people and to give expression to their wishes. 
Nothing could have been farther from the actual results 
of these assemblies. They were seldom called until 
the most careful preparations had been made to secure 
the ends of those by whom they were summoned. The 
measures to be adopted had been concocted by the 
party in possession of power, or desiring to become 
possessed of it. The names of those who were to be 
proposed on the dictatorship — for this was the nature of 
the balia — were all ready. It was by such means that 
the Medici and other dominant families had paved the 
way for the execution of their own ambitious designs. 

The Florentines had ample experience of the unre- 
ality and mischievousness of these assemblies, but they 
knew of no other course to be taken in the reconstruction 
of their government. The bell was sounded according 
to ancient usage, and the people, headed by their gon- 
falonieri, proceeded to the Piazza. The magistrates pro- 
posed to them the election of commissioners, to remain 
in power for one year, and during that time to have 
authority to elect the Signoria and all the principal 
magistrates, and to choose a gonfalonier e di giustizia 
from their number. The proposition was accepted by 
the people with every demonstration of joy. 

When the Medici came into power they preserved all 
the ancient forms of republican Uberty. Finding that it 
was easier to reduce the authority of the old institutions 
to a shadow than to aboHsh them, both Cosimo and 
Lorenzo had professed to carry on the government by 
means of the constituted bodies, — the Signoria, the 
College, the Ten of War, elected every six months, 
the Eight, who had jurisdiction in criminal causes and 



174 SAVONAROLA. 

were elected every four months, and the two councils, 
representing the two classes of the people, by whom 
the magistrates were elected and the laws voted. But 
Lorenzo, without appearing to abohsh the old institu- 
tions, without summoning a parlamento, by means of a 
friendly Signoria carried through the legislative councils 
an important measure, which placed the whole power of 
the State more completely in his own hands.^ This was 
the appointment of a council or senate of seventy, whom 
he took care to have elected from his own friends, and 
whom he made permanent, with power to fill up all 
vacancies as they occurred. To these seventy was com- 
mitted the election of the other officials of the State, so 
that whoever had the real direction of the senate was 
the practical ruler of Florence. 

The authority of this senate now passed to the twenty 
commissioners, or electors, called accoppiatori, who, 
inasmuch as they had the bi-monthly election of 
the supreme Signoria in their hands, became the great 
power in the State ; for the only real check upon the 
power of the Signoria was the fact of its being changed 
every two months. Offices of different kinds might be 
intrusted to other hands, but the Signoria, or magis- 
trates, had the administration in their hands, the legisla- 
tion, the power of deciding cases in law, and the right 
of declaring war ; so that the electors of this body, when 
they were permanent, while the Signoria was continually 
changing, had the most perfect control over all the affairs 
of State. By vesting this power of election in the twenty 
accoppiatori, chosen by the people, the Florentines be- 
lieved that they were re-establishing popular power. 

But they forgot that there was an energy behind the 
^ C£. Von Reumont, b. v. c. i. 



REVOLUTION. 



175 



senate which was continually putting it in motion and 
guiding its action ; and people, whether individuals or 
communities, who have been accustomed to lean on 
others, do not readily learn to rely upon themselves, to 
judge for themselves, and to act upon the judgments 
which they have formed. Among these electors, as 
among those who appointed them, there was an absence 
of what we might call public opinion, or what others 
would call party organization ; and this was seen when 
they proceeded to the election of a gonfalojiiere. They 
could not get a majority of their number to agree on 
any one name. Every two or three electors had their 
own candidate, and they became aware of their helpless- 
ness, without knowing how it could be remedied. Men 
who had been prompt and vigorous in action when they 
saw clearly the work that v;as to be done, were incapable 
of guiding the deliberations of their fellow-citizens. In 
this difficulty their minds turned to the constitution of 
Venice as offering a model which might, to some extent, 
become an example for themselves. 

When, however, they came to discuss the subject of 
conforming their own constitution to the Venetian, there 
arose a difference of opinion among them. It was gen- 
erally agreed that most of the magistrates and officials 
that had existed before the time of Lorenzo should be 
preserved or restored, — the Signoria, the Eight for the 
decision of criminal and political causes, the Ten as a 
war ministry, and the gonfaloniere di conipagnia. But 
when they came to consider the constitution of the 
councils by which these functionaries should be elected, 
they could no longer agree. The two sections were led 
by two doctors in law, Vespucci and Soderini. Accord- 
ing to the latter, the true method was to form a council 



176 SAVONAROLA. 

after the model of the great council of Venice, which 
should consist of the popular element and have the 
election of the magistrates and the passing of the laws, 
and besides this, to have, like the Venetians, a smaller 
council, consisting of a higher class of men, who should 
decide matters that could not be properly discussed in 
public. Vespucci, on the other hand, represented that 
the great council of Venice was an aristocratic body, 
and that to form such a council of the people in- 
discriminately would be to renew and perpetuate the 
old excesses and disturbances which had disgraced the 
republic in past times. -^ 

These opposing views were discussed at great length 
without leading to any general agreement. At last the 
thoughts of men turned instinctively to Savonarola. 
He had guided them through their difficulties with the 
French king, and they now looked to him for direction 
in their present perplexity. It is most untrue to say 
that Savonarola did, of his own accord, meddle with 
the politics of the State. He could never be indifferent 
to the manner in which his countrymen were governed, 
because he saw the most intimate connection between 
the government and the morals of the people. He 
knew that when reasonable liberty was gone, nearly all 
that was good and noble in men must perish with it. 
But he cared for politics only as the instrument of 
morality, and he constantly warned the citizens that 
the first step to true liberty and happiness was the 
reformation of manners. 

We have seen hov/ far he was from inflaming the 
passions of the populace when their wrath first broke 
out against Piero de' Medici. It is certain that he 
1 Guicciardini has preserved their arguments. 



REVOLUTION. 177 

took no part in the expulsion of the Medici from Flor- 
ence,^ for he had not then returned from Pisa after 
his interview with King Charles. And now he began 
to introduce distinct political allusions into his sermons, 
because it was expected that he should do so. because 
the people needed guidance and looked to him for 
it, and because he believed that God had appointed 
him to be their teacher. 

In his first sermons on the subjects of the day he 
exhorted the wealthy to abandon luxurious living, that 
they might give to the poor, who were in great distress 
in consequence of the cessation of business, which had 
not been generally resumed since the occupation of the 
city by the French, He said that, if necessary, he 
would sell the vessels of the church and the vestments of 
the clergy to alleviate the destitution which prevailed ; 
but they must see at once that the shops were opened, 
and that work was provided for the unemployed. Un- 
doubtedly, he told them, it was the will of God that bad 
government should cease, that evil customs and unequal 
laws should be abolished ; but it was still more neces- 
sary that they should fulfil their obvious duties. 

"This is a time," he said, " in which words must give 
way to deeds, and vain ceremonies to true sentiments. 
The Lord hath said: 'I was an hungered, and ye gave 
me no meat: I was naked, and ye clothed me not.' He 
never said : ' Ye built not a beautiful church or a fine con- 
vent.' He speaks only of works of charity. We must 
begin our work of renovation, then, with charity." 

^ It has been erroneously supposed that he did so, by Perrens 
and others ; but Villari has shown that this error arose from the 
wrong arrangement of his sermons, and that he had not then 
returned to Florence. 



178 SAVONAROLA. 

But this did not satisfy the expectations of the peo- 
ple ; and at last he began, on the third Sunday in Ad- 
vent, December 12th of the same year (1494), to speak 
more directly on the subject of politics. The opinions 
which he expressed in his sermons he afterwards pub- 
lished in his " Treatise on the Government of Flor- 
ence,"-^ — a tract which he composed at the request of 
the Signori, and which he dedicated to them. From 
his sermons preached at this time, as well as from the 
treatise, it is evident that Savonarola was not in theory 
a republican. A monarchy was the form of govern- 
ment which he would himself have preferred ; but he 
acknowledged that, while it was the best government 
when the monarch was a good and wise man, it was 
the worst when he was a bad man. Besides, he con- 
fessed that it was ill adapted for Italy and for Florence. 
There, he feared, it could only exist as a tyranny. 

" The only government that can suit us,'" he said, " is 
the government of the citizens and that which is universal. ^ 
Woe to thee, O Florence, if thou makest to thyself a head, 
a chief who can oppress and domineer over the rest ! 
From these heads arise all the evils that can ruin a city. 
And therefore the first law which thou shouldst make will 
be this : That no one must ever, for the future, be made 
head over thy city; otherwise thou wilt be cast down into 
the dust. Those men who wish to elevate themselves 
above all others, and who cannot endure civil equality, are 
the worsl- of all; they seek the ruin of their own souls and 
that of the people. 

" O my people ! " he exclaims, " you know that I have 
never wished to enter into the affairs of the State ; think 

1 Trattato circa il reggimento e governo della Cittk di Fi- 
renze. Republished at Florence, 1847. 

2 Governo civile ed universale. 



REVOLUTION. 179 

you that I should do so now if I did not see that it was 
necessary for the safety of men's souls ? You would not 
believe, but now you see, that my words are all proved 
true ; that they are not mine, but that they come from the 
Lord. Give ear, then, to one who seeks only your salva- 
tion. Purify your hearts, give heed to the common good, 
forget private interests ; and if you reform your city in 
this disposition, it will be more glorious than it has ever 
been." 

And then, breaking into prayer, he cries out : — 

" Open, O Lord, the heart of this people, that they may 
understand those things which are in my mind, and that 
Thou hast revealed and commanded them." 

The beginning of all reforms, he told them, must be 
in the heart and life. Spiritual things are the origin 
of all right principle and action, and all temporal good 
ought to subserve the moral and religious good upon 
which it depends. Then, referring to the well-known 
saying of Cosimo de' Medici, he goes on, — 

" If you have heard it declared that ' States are not 
governed with Pater Nosters,' remember that this is the 
theory of tyrants, of men who are the enemies of God and 
of the common weal, — a theory invented to oppress and 
not to elevate and free the State. On the contrary, if 
you would have a good government, you must return to 
God. If it were not so, I should certainly not trouble my- 
self about the State. 

" The form which is best adapted for this city," he con- 
tinues, " is that of a great council, after the Venetian man- 
ner. And therefore I advise you to assemble the whole 
city under the sixteen gonfalonieri, and let each one of 
the companies choose a form ; from the sixteen thus ob- 
tained let the gonfalonieri select four, and take them to 



l8o SAVONAROLA. 

the Signoria, who, after solemn prayer has been offered, 
shall choose the best. And that which is thus chosen, 
you may feel certain, will come from God. I believe 
myself that the form chosen will be the Venetian ; but 
you need not be ashamed to imitate that, because they 
also have had it from the Lord, from whom cometh every- 
thing that is good. You see that from the time that this 
government has prevailed in Venice no divisions or dis- 
sensions have arisen in that city ; and therefore we must 
believe that it is according to the will of God." 

The influence of Savonarola was at this time felt to 
be so salutary that he was frequently requested by the 
Signoria to preach on these subjects in St. Mark's, and 
also in the palace. At last, in a sermon in the cathe- 
dral, at which only men were present, he put forth 
these four points as embodying the principles of true 
government : — 

1. The fear of God and the restoration of good man- 
ners and customs. 

2. The love of popular government and of the pub- 
lic good, setting aside all private interests. 

3. A general amnesty, by which they should absolve 
the friends of the past government from all faults, remit- 
ting all fines, and showing indulgence towards those 
who were indebted to the State. 

4. To constitute a form of universal government, 
which should comprehend all the citizens, to whom, 
according to the ancient ordinances of the city, the 
government belonged. 

He concluded by suggesting the formation of a great 
council, after the Venetian model, but adapted to the 
genius of the people of Florence. 

The clear statement of these principles, enforced by 



REVOLUTION. l8l 

the air of authority with which they were set forth, 
produced an irresistible effect on the people. Even 
those who had only a very partial sympathy with the 
character and action of Savonarola have expressed their 
admiration of his conduct on this occasion and their 
astonishment at the results which he produced. Men 
of the world living near his own time admired his talent 
for administration, and confessed that the government 
which he gave to Florence was the best that it had ever 
enjoyed.i It was reserved for scoffers of a later age 
to speak of him as a mixture of cunning and fanaticism. 
Those who study with impartiality his spoken utter- 
ances, his well-considered written testimony, his whole 
conduct and deportment during these times of per- 
plexity and doubt, will see that he was speaking the truth 
when he said he would not have mixed in the affairs 
of the State but for the good of men's souls and for the 
glory of that Lord who had sent him to do His work. 

The sermons preached by Savonarola on the Prophet 
Haggai in Advent, and those on the Psalms, which were 
delivered immediately afterwards, are not only of im- 
portance as showing the influence which he then exer- 
cised in the State, they are valuable historical documents. 
Every step in the reconstruction of the edifice of Floren- 
tine government was introduced by a sermon from the 
Frate, so that the history of the period can be traced in 
his successive discourses. The first step was to gain the 
consent of the two councils of the people to the forma- 
tion of a great council ; and this was done with almost 
entire unanimity. The council was invested with power 

1 Francesco Forti says : " The reform of the Frate was per- 
haps the only just government which Florence possessed in its 
republican state." 



1 82 SAVONAROLA. 

to elect all the chief magistrates and to sanction all the 
laws, so that it was made the supreme authority in the 
State. 

The charge against Savonarola, that he was founding 
a government utterly democratic and plebeian, is entirely 
without foundation. Before a man could be a member 
of the great council he must be of the age of twenty- 
nine years and one of the beneficiati of the citizens ; 
that is to say, either himself, his father, his grandfather, 
or his great-grandfather must have held one of the three 
highest offices in the State. This council, be it observed, 
was the only body which really possessed the franchise 
under the reformation of Savonarola ; and it was so far 
from being merely plebeian that there were actually two 
classes of the citizens who had no place in it, — those 
called statuati, who were eligible to offices which would 
qualify them for a place in the council, and those called 
aggravezzati, who paid taxes, had the right to carry arms, 
and certain other civil privileges ; while below these were 
the other inhabitants of the city, who had no part in the 
government or special rights of citizenship. 

It was arranged that when the number of the benefici- 
ati tyict^^t^ fifteen hundred, they should be divided into 
three parts, which should, in succession, form the great 
council for six months. It is said that Florence at that 
time contained ninety thousand inhabitants,^ of whom 
only thirty-two hundred were qualified ; so that the coun- 
cil would consist of little more than a thousand persons at 
a time. In order to give it a more comprehensive char- 
acter, it was decided to elect sixty citizens not beneficiati, 
and twenty young men of the age of twenty-four years, 
as members of the council. 

1 Cf. Villari, lib. ii. c. 5. 



REVOLUTION. 1 83 

The lesser council, which formed the senate, or upper 
house of government, was to consist of eighty citizens 
of not less than forty years of age, who were to be re- 
newed every six months. This body was to assist the 
Signoria, who were required to consult it at least once 
a week ; and these, together with the colleges of gon- 
falonieri and the other magistrates, were to nominate 
ambassadors and conduct other matters of importance 
which could not be decided in public. When it was in- 
tended to pass a new law, the proposto (provost or pres- 
ident), who was one of the Signori, and changed every 
day, proposed it to the Signoria ; if it was passed by 
them and the colleges, they might then call together a 
committee of experienced citizens and obtain their judg- 
ment, if the matter seemed of sufficient importance, or 
they might carry it to the Eighty at once ; and from 
them it went to the great council, by whose consent it 
became law. It should be added that these assembUes 
had the power of voting only, and not of discussing. 
Not unless their members were called upon to express 
their opinions could they do so, and then only in favor 
of the proposed law. This course, which at first may 
seem unreasonable, was rendered necessary by the num- 
ber of persons constituting these bodies. Another pro- 
vision was made at the same time, which was intended 
to meet the existing necessities of the State. This was 
the election of ten citizens who should have the power 
of remitting, in whole or in part, any unpaid taxes or 
fines imposed by the late government, and who should 
rearrange the public imposts and taxes, laying them 
principally upon real property. This last regulation, al- 
though it rendered ecclesiastical property liable to taxa- 
tion, had been strongly recommended from the pulpit by 



184 SAVONAROLA, 

Savonarola. Villari informs us that this measure was 
carried out with so much prudence and justice that to 
this day the system introduced by the advice of Savo- 
narola is maintained in Florence. It was provided that 
each citizen, without distinction, should pay to the State 
one tenth of the rent derived from his real property {be?n 
stabili) . 

Savonarola had never ceased to preach peace and 
mercy and unity during the troubles of Florence ; and 
a measure came now to be decided which was closely 
connected with the political changes which had taken 
place. It has been mentioned that there was a body 
of eight magistrates who decided upon all political and 
criminal offences. This body had the power, by a 
majority of six votes {sei fave^ "six beans," as it was 
called), to condemn an accused person to imprison- 
ment, banishment, a pecuniary fine, or even to death. In 
consequence of the strong party feeling which often 
prevailed, it became necessary to have some appeal 
from the decision of the Eight, or from that of the Signo- 
ria, by whom the powers of the Eight were commonly 
appropriated. 

On the general subject of appeal the voice of Savo- 
narola was heard; but a most important divergence took 
place as to the body to whom the appeal should be car- 
ried. The Frate knew well that the mob was most easily 
made the tool of the despot, that a larger body of men 
were more apt to be led away by passion than a smaller 
and more select assembly; and he proposed that the 
appeal should be carried, not to the Consiglio Mag- 
giore, but to the Council of Eighty. It was immediately 

1 Hence the law giving an appeal from their decision was 
called " La legge delle sei fave." 



REVOLUTION. 185 

complained that this was to destroy the authority of the 
Signoria. " Surely not," said Savonarola ; " it will only 
strengthen their hands. If they are doing right, the 
council will confirm it ; if they are doing wrong, they 
will be glad to be set right." 

It is easy now to see that Savonarola's proposal was 
the right one, and it is equally easy to see how it failed. 
The men in authority were opposed to every appeal, as 
taking these judicial decisions out of their hands ; the 
mob were jealous of such privileges being intrusted to 
what they regarded as a select and aristocratic chamber. 
Hence there was a union of forces against the scheme 
of the Frate which could appeal only to the reason and 
not to the prejudices of the people. The multitude de- 
sired that the power of revising these criminal sentences 
should be possessed by the greater council ; the aristo- 
crats saw clearly that they could more easily turn the 
larger body to their own purposes, and they too opposed 
the intrusting of these powers to the Eighty. That very 
Vespucci who had opposed the formation of the great 
council, on the ground that it was intended to be dem- 
ocratic, and not aristocratic, as in Venice, to the astonish- 
ment of all spoke strongly in favor of these appeals be- 
ing carried to the larger assembly. He wanted, he said, 
the equality of all the citizens, and this was the way to 
attain it. What he, and others like him, really wanted 
was a body with which they could do as they pleased ; 
and they used the ignorant prejudices and unreasoning 
passions of the multitude to gain their ends. All this 
was clearly perceived by Savonarola, but he was power- 
less to prevent the fatal decision. It may have been 
that his deep loyalty to the freedom of the people hin- 
dered his using the kind of argument which the other 



1 86 SAVONAROLA. 

side employed. In this point, at least, his suggestion 
was not followed ; and the most cruel part of the affair 
is that he has been made responsible by many writers 
for this mischievous law, although he did his best to pre- 
vent its being passed. Here, as in many other cases, a 
more minute examination of the documents of the period 
and of his own sermons has served to clear his memory 
from blame. 

There was one other measure of change upon which 
Savonarola had set his heart, — the abolition of the j>ar- 
lamento. It has already been mentioned that the/ar- 
lamento was an assembly of the whole people, called into 
the Piazza by the sound of the bell, to decide on any 
considerable change in the government, and to appoint 
a balia for giving effect to their resolutions. To an 
inexperienced mind, nothing could seem more open, 
straightforward, constitutional, democratic. Here were 
the whole people assembled to give their consent to a 
change which concerned every one of them. The trans- 
action, as a rule, was as hollow as it was specious. 

We who live in the nineteenth century have seen 
something as pretentious and as unreal in our own days. 
It is not long since a great nation was invited to declare 
its mind by a plebiscite. What could be fairer ? Let all 
men say whether it is their will to have an emperor ! 
And simple-minded English people looked on with puz- 
zled admiration and asked : " Is not this as good as a 
general election, and very much the same thing?" It 
was, indeed, a very different thing. The people were 
simply asked to sanction a foregone conclusion. And if 
they refused, what was the alternative? It was not a 
change of policy or a change of ministers, it was a rev- 
olution ; and that was a serious thing to face. 



REVOLUTION. 187 

There was just as much unreality in the parlamento. 
Like the plebiscite, it was intended for the mere sanction- 
ing and registering of a decision already arrived at, and 
it was the simplest and most useful instrument that des- 
potism could employ. " I have thought," said Savona- 
rola, in one of his sermons, " I have thought of this 
parlamejito of yours, and it seems to me to be nothing 
else but a means of destruction, and therefore it is ne- 
cessary to put it away." And again, with still greater 
energy : " People, when you hear the bell sounding to 
assemble 2,parlame7ifo, rise up, draw your swords, and 
say, * What do you want ? Have we not our council, 
which is sufficient ? What law do you want to make ? 
Cannot the council pass it ? ' Therefore I want you to 
make a law that, when the Signoria enter upon their 
office, they shall take an oath not to call a.parlamento.''^ 
To these words he added language still stronger, bid- 
ding the people be ready, in case the Signoria should 
make such a proposal, and, the moment they set their 
feet on the ringhiera^ at once cut them in pieces. 
This language represented the Frate's deep conviction 
of the mischievousness of these assemblies, and not his 
habitual spirit and feeling towards political opponents. 
Aheady he saw signs of approaching divisions and of 
fresh attempts to restore the party which had been 
driven from power ; and he may be forgiven if he used 
violent language in prospect of real and alarming dan- 
gers, threatening to undo the whole of the work for 
which he had labored with such zeal and success. 

The law was passed as he had desired. On the 28th 
of July (1495) he preached the sermon containing the 

1 The platform in front of the palazzo, from which they ad- 
dressed the populace. 



1 88 SAVONAROLA. 

words which we have quoted. On the 13th of August 
it was decreed by the authority of the Signori and the 
gonfaloniere of the repubUc, with the consent of the 
councils, " that for the future it should not be possible 
to make a p ar lament ; that the Signoria should take 
an oath, on their entrance into office, never to convoke 
one ; that whoever should plot such a thing should be 
subject to the penalty of death ; and whoever should 
reveal such a design should have a reward of 300 
florins." 

It will be remembered that one of the first subjects 
which Savonarola brought before the people, when he 
began to introduce the affairs of the State into his ser- 
mons, was the condition of the poor. And now, no 
sooner was the constitution of the republic finally settled 
than he turned his attention to the best means of reliev- 
ing the wants of the needy and destitute. For this pur- 
pose he recommended the formation of a Monte di Pieta, 
or " Compassionate Bank," entreating that all, and es- 
pecially women who had more money than they needed, 
should assist in its establishment. There was, indeed? 
a great necessity for some such institution. In Florence, 
as elsewhere, money-lending was chiefly in the hands of 
the Jews, who charged the most exorbitant interest ; and 
this again led to serious popular outbreaks against that 
people. Savonarola had never joined in those persecu- 
tions, he would rather convert the Jews to the Chris- 
tian faith ; but he would also take away the occasion of 
their exactions. This he proposed to accomplish by the 
Monte di Pieta. At first he wished that money should 
be lent without any interest being charged ; but this plan 
was found impracticable. He succeeded, however, in 
passing a law that the bank should be established, that 



revolution: 189 

the expense of its administration should not exceed 600 
florins a year, and that the interest charged should 
not be more than six per cent.^ It was not all that he 
desired, but it was a measure which brought very 
great relief to the class for whom he had intended 
it. 

In the amnesty now passed, there is one case which 
deserves a passing notice. On the 8th of June, 1495, 
the magistrates decreed as follows : " Considering that 
Messer Dante Alighieri, great-grandson of Dante the 
poet, is unable to enter the city in consequence of not 
having been able to pay the tax imposed by the magis- 
trates of last November and December, and judging it 
well to show some gratitude to the descendant of that 
poet who was so great an ornament to this city, they 
decree that the said Messer Dante shall consider himself 
to be, and shall be. free from every restriction or hin- 
drance whatever." " It was," says Villari, " a tardy par- 
don to the memory of the great Ghibelline, an act of 
justice too slender to the name of the divine poet ; yet 
it did no small honor to the republic that it should have 
thought of it in the first days of its new birth." 

Those who would rightly estimate the intellectual ca- 
pacity, the administrative ability, the moral influence 
of the great Dominican friar, who was now the ruling 
heart and mind of Florence, need only survey the work 
accomplished in the first year or two that had elapsed 
since the expulsion of the Medici. It was at this time 
that the statue of Judith slaying Holofernes, the work 
of Donatello, which had formerly been the property of 

1 It was in 1496 that this measure became law; but it is more 
convenient to give in one view the reforms which were accom- 
plished under the influence of Savonarola. 



190 SAVONAROLA. 

the Medici, was set up.^ It was intended as a monu- 
ment of the triumph of the republic, and bore upon it 
an inscription to the effect that the citizens had placed 
it there as a memorial of the safety of the common- 
wealth.^ The monument, with its inscription, has been 
permitted to stand through all the changes which Flor- 
ence has undergone during the space of nearly four 
centuries. 

One other memorial, still existing, of the changes in- 
troduced at this time should be mentioned here. It is 
the Sala del Cinquecento ^ (Hall of the Five Hundred), 
a chamber 170 feet in length and 75 in breadth, which 
was built for the accommodation of the greater council. 
There was no chamber in Florence of sufficient dimen- 
sions to contain so large a body, and at the suggestion 
of Savonarola a portion of the Palazzo Vecchio left un- 
finished by the Duke of Athens was adapted for the 
purpose. It is an interesting fact that the first Parlia- 
ment of United Italy was held under King Victor Em- 
manuel in this chamber during the time that Florence 
was the capital of the kingdom. 

1 Originally in front of the palazzo. In 1504 it was removed 
to the Loggia dei Lanzi, to make room for the David of Michael 
Angelo. 

2 Exemphim sal: pttb: cives posuere. MCCCCXCV. 

8 Built under the direction of Lionardo da Vinci and Michael 
Angelo, and in such an incredibly short space of time that Savo- 
narola said, '* the angels must have assisted." 



REFORMATION OP MANNERS. 191 



CHAPTER XI. 

REFORMATION OF MANNERS. 

If Savonarola was urged by the force of circumstances 
to take part in the political struggles of the day, he could 
always say with perfect truth that he had not willingly 
chosen this course for himself. His whole conduct 
proved the sincerity of his answer to those who accused 
him of meddling with politics, that he had done so for the 
safety, the well-being, the salvation of the people. In 
his sermons and in his public action he ever made it 
clear that with him politics were subordinate to religion. 
If he wished that Florence should be free, it was that its 
people might be righteous and God-fearing. 

It is, indeed, one of the reproaches brought against 
the Frate that, in his subsequent course of action, he 
advocated theories and principles which were inapplica- 
ble to the actual condition of human society. If this be 
true, and we shall see that there is some truth in the re- 
mark, it is the best proof that he was not a mere dema- 
gogue lusting for political power. With him the claims 
of God were paramount. He was continually reminding 
the citizens that, whatever might be the form of their 
government, Christ was their true King. In this way he 
gave effect to his monarchical preferences. The rule of 
One was the ideal rule. But One was their master, even 
Christ : the only question that remained had regard to 
the best manner of securing obedience to His laws. 



192 SAVONAROLA. 

It was on the third Sunday in the Advent of 1494, 
in his sermons on the prophet Haggai, that Savonarola 
first introduced pohtical subjects into the pulpit. It 
seems to have been on the following Sunday that he 
first broached the notion of Christ being the King 
of Florence. Addressing himself to an imaginary au- 
ditory, that might prefer a monarchical government, he 
exclaimed, — 

" Well, Florence, God is willing to satisfy thee, and to 
give thee a Head, a King to govern thee. This King is 
Christ. The Lord will govern thee Himself, if thou con- 
sent, O Florence ! Suffer thyself to be guided by Him. 
Do not act as did the Jews when they required a king 
of Samuel. God said to Samuel, ' Hearken unto the 
voice of the people in all that they say unto thee : for they 
have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I 
should not reign over them.' ^ O Florence, do not imitate 
this people ! Take Christ for thy Master, and remain sub- 
ject to His law." 

It was a thought likely to gain favor with the peo- 
ple at the moment; and when the Frate exclaimed, 
" Florence, Jesus Christ, who is King of the universe, 
hath willed to become thy King in particular, wilt 
thou have Him for thy King?" the multitude, as with 
one voice, acclaimed Jesus Christ as King of Florence. 
So eagerly was the cry taken up that Savonarola had 
to restrain the too-abundant expression of their zeal. 
It remained for long the rallying cry of his followers. 

The Frate was not ignorant that his enemies would 
charge him with proclaiming Christ as their King, in 
order that he might be king himself, or at least prime 
minister in the new kingdom. 

1 I Sam. viii. 7. 



REFORMATION OP MANNERS. 193 

He tells them he knows what they are thinking, — 
that he is attempting to govern under this pretext. 

" Well, then," he exclaims, " what have you given me 
for trying to govern you ? Where are the presents that 
you have sent me ? O Frate, you say, you have thou- 
sands of ducats ! If any one says so, he does not speak 
the truth ; I have nothing, and I want nothing. It is you 
who want to be the first [referring to the aristocratic ob- 
structors of the proposed constitution], and that is your 
reason for disliking the council. He who wants to be first 
seeks to overthrow the government of the whole people ; 
he will have no magistrates nominated without his permis- 
sion ; he must be consulted about everything, even to the 
appointment of a clergyman to Santa Reparata. For my 
part, I endeavor to maintain the council. . . . Accuse me 
no more, then, of wanting to be minister of your city. 
Christ alone, I tell you, is your King 1 " 

We have already seen that Savonarola addressed 
himself to the reformation of the life and manners of 
the people directly after the expulsion of the Medici ; 
but he never forgot the supreme importance of this 
subject, and his sermons never became mere political 
addresses. The state of morality in Florence was, in 
truth, very degraded. Enough has been said of the 
moral condition of Europe and of Italy at this period ; 
and Florence, with its wealth and luxury, with its liter- 
ary scepticism and its political subserviency and corrup- 
tion, was to the full as bad as its worst neighbors. The 
Frate told the people that they spent their life in revel- 
ling and drunkenness and in all kinds of debauchery. 
" Your life," he said, " is the life of swine." And the 
historians of the period give no different account of 
their condition. They were madly addicted to gam- 

13 



194 SAVONAROLA. 

bling and to the most degrading vices. They were 
indecent in their attire, — a sure sign of the degener- 
acy of their morals, — and vices and crimes prevailed 
widely which are not fit even to be named among us. 
It is to be feared that these were not discouraged, — that 
they were even promoted, — by the friends of the 

. classical Renaissance. 

' Savonarola was never weary of warning the citizens 
— it was, indeedj the great work of his life to bear 
witness — that they could have no blessing from God, 
no abiding prosperity, unless they were converted from 
their sins. Whatever fostered vice and ungodliness, 
whatever hindered the acknowledgment of truth and 
God among them, — against this he warred, through 
his whole ministry, through his whole life, a continuous, 
unending warfare. It has been alleged that he carried 
his opposition to the borders of fanaticism when he 
endeavored to suppress all gambhng, when he sought 
to destroy the writings ^ of the classics and of his own 
countrymen, which he considered to be the fountains 
of the evils which prevailed so widely in the city. 

But he was not contented with urging upon the people 
to abandon those habits which were ruining the city ; 
he entreated the magistrates to take the work in hand. 

"Magistrates," he says, "it is to you that I address 
myself. Put down these vices, destroy these sins, punish 
this hoirid passion which is against nature. And not 
merely by a private fine, but in public, that all Italy may 
know it. . . . Expose all the courtesans in a public place, 
and send them off to the sound of trumpets. But you 
say, O father ! there are so many of them that this would 
be to upset the whole city. Well, then, begin with one, 

1 We shall have to speak of this again. 



JREFORMATION OF MANNERS. 



195 



then go on to the rest; and if you cannot give them chas- 
tity, you can at least teach them decency. Punish gam- 
blers; for, be well assured, gambling still goes on. Give 
orders, signors, that no one shall play in the streets at 
great games or small. . . . Have the tongues of blas- 
phemers pierced. Saint Louis, king of France, had the 
lips of a blasphemer cauterized, and said : ' I should be 
happy to have as much done to myself if I could at such 
a price have my kingdom cleared of such offenders.' Put 
down dancing too, for this is not a time to dance. Pro- 
hibit balls in town and country." 

Then he went further, and recommended the ap- 
pointment of spies to discover whether these orders 
were carried out. He found that the places of pubHc 
entertainment were not closed at the appointed hour ; ■ 
that the shops were kept open on holy days ; and he 
insisted that they should be closed, with the exception 
of those which were open for the sale of medicines. 

If the preacher had but small success with the mag- 
istrates, it was different among the people at large, and 
especially with those who crowded the cathedral when 
he preached. These, if they became increasingly a 
party only of the whole inhabitants of the city, became 
also increasingly zealous for the objects which the Frate 
was endeavoring to promote. He seems at this time 
to have produced astonishing effects by his preaching. 
His hearers were influenced by the most powerful 
emotions as they listened to his words. The short-hand 
writer who reports these sermons sometimes had to 
cease writing. He leaves out portions of them, and 
explains that he was unable to go on for weeping. 
Men and women as they left the church tore off their 
ornaments and gave them as an offering to God, or 
took them to the magistrates for the use of the State. 






196 SAVONAROLA. 

Savonarola was oftentimes as powerfully moved as 
were his hearers. Sometimes after a sermon he was 
utterly prostrate, and forced to remain quiet and in 
seclusion. At the end of the Advent of 1494 he 
seemed inclined for a season to abstain from preaching ; 
but the fire kept burning within him, as he told the 
people, and he was constrained to speak. In January 
he is again in the pulpit, preaching sermons on the 
Psalms, which were continued on holy days up to the 
beginning of Lent. 

In one of these sermons, preached on the 13th of 
January, he gives a summary of his teaching on the 
reformation of the Church. It was evidently prepared 
with peculiar care, and was regarded as an important 
testimony as to the aims of the preacher ; and it was 
printed immediately afterwards and circulated widely 
in Florence and elsewhere.-^ " Our intention this 
morning," he begins, " is to repeat all that we have 
said and preached at Florence these past years about 
the renovation of the Church ; all which will soon be 
accomplished." This, he says, he will declare over 
again for the confirmation of those who have believed, 
and for the confusion of those who will not believe or 
repent. 

After some remarks on the creature, on time and 
eternity, he says that God alone, and not even angels, 
can know the future ; and " He communicates this 

^ I possess an original copy of this sermon. No reporter's 
name is mentioned, as is the case with another sermon published 
in the same manner ; so that it may have been published by 
Savonarola himself. The title is : Predica di Frate Hieronimo 
da Ferrara della renovatione della chiesa facta in Sancta Maria 
del fiore in Firenze, adl, xiii. di Gennaio. MCCCCLXXXXillll. 
{1495. N. S.) 



REFORMATION OF MANNERS. 197 

knowledge to whom He pleases, and to what extent and 
at what time He wills." Then he denounces the false- 
ness of astrology, which pretends to have the knowledge 
of future events which are contingent. *' Such pre- 
tensions," he sa3^s, " are equally opposed to philosophy 
and to faith. Prophets," he goes on, " have light from 
God ; and He gives it to whom He will. And now 
you will say, ' Frate, whence have you learned the things 
which you have predicted for the last four years ? ' " 
At first, he says, they are not ready to receive the 
explanation ; but at least they know he is not a mad- 
man, and that he does not excite himself without a 
reason. And he adds that a great part of the things 
which he predicted have already come to pass. 

"And I tell you ^ that the rest will be verified, and not 
an iota of it will fail ; and I am more certain of it than you 
are that two and two make four, more than I am certain 
that I touch this wood of this pulpit, because that light is 
more certain than the sense of touch. But I want you to 
know that this light does not justify men. Balaam was a 
prophet, and yet he was a sinner and a wicked man, al- 
though he had this light of prophecy. But I tell you, O 
Florence, that this light was given me for thee, and not for 
myself ; for this light does not make a man acceptable to 
God. And I wish you to know that I began to see these 
things more than fifteen years ago, perhaps twenty. But 
I began to speak of them ten years ago. And first at 
Brescia, when I preached there, I began to say something. 
Then God permitted that I should come to Florence, 
which is the light of Italy, that you might spread the 
knowledge to all the other cities of Italy. But thou, 
Florence, hast heard with thine ears not me, but God. 

1 Villari, who gives a careful analysis of this sermon, has 
followed the Latin translation. 



198 SAVONAROLA. 

The rest of Italy has heard of this only from the report of 
others ; and therefore thou, Florence, wilt have no excuse 
if thou repent not. Believe me, Florence, it is not I, it is 
God who says these things." 

He then proceeds to repeat the reasons, such as he 
had often insisted upon before, " which demonstrate and 
prove the renovation of the Church." Some of them 
were probable, and might be contradicted ; . some de- 
monstrative, which could not be contradicted, because 
they were founded on Holy Scripture. He enumerates 
ten reasons, beginning with the " pollution of the pre- 
lates," saying that a good head gave promise of a good 
body; but when the head was evil, the body was so 
also. The second was the removal of the good and 
righteous, by which God declared that He was bringing 
a scourge upon a nation. The third was the exclusion 
of the righteous by those in power. The fourth was 
the desire of the righteous. Then he mentions the 
obstinacy of sinners, the multitude of sinners. " See," 
he says, " if Rome is full of pride, of luxury and avarice 
and simony." Then he speaks of the insolence of the 
great, the want of faith, the neglect of public worship ; 
and finally, the universal opinion. Every one was 
expecting scourging and tribulations ; and every one 
thought it just that the punishment of so great iniquities 
should come. " The Abbot Joachino and many others 
preach and announce that a great scourge is to come in 
this time. These," he adds, " are the reasons for which 
I have preached the renovation of the Church." 

After illustrating, his theme by a figurative interpreta- 
tion of Scripture, he proceeds to speak of the signs by 
which we may know of the approach of these events. 
There are two, he says. First, exterior signs ; and he 



REFORMATION OF MANNERS. 199 

confesses that he was mistaken in thinking the death of 
Pope Innocent one of these signs, — evidently meaning 
that the accession of Alexander VI. could hardly be the 
beginning of the renovation of the Church. Then there 
is a second class of signs, — that given to the imagination ; 
by which he indicates visions and the hke. 

"I saw by imagination," he says, "a black cross over 
Babylon, which is Rome, on which cross was written the 
wrath of God ; " and then he refers to the vision of 
swords and weapons of war falling to the ground, of 
which we have heard. And there was another cross 
of gold, on which was written the mercy of God. And 
he saw a sword hanging over Italy and descending upon 
it ; and this sword, he said, represented the king of 
France, who was now showing himself to all Italy. And 
then he reminds them of all the words of warning 
which he had spoken, and how many of them had been 
verified. 

" Believe me, then, Florence," he exclaims ; " and thou 
oughtest to believe me, because of that which I have said. 
Thou hast not seen one iota fail until now ; and for the 
future thou wilt see nothing fail. I predicted, several years 
before, the death of Lorenzo de' Medici, tlje death of Pope 
Innocent, also that which has now happened at Florence, 
— the change in the State. I have not said all these things 
publicly ; but I have said them to those who are here at 
this sermon, and I have the witnesses here, O Florence ! 
And this light was not given to me for myself, or for my 
merit ; but for thee, O Florence, it has been given to me. 
And I have said these things to thee this morning thus 
openly, — this morning inspired by God that I should say 
them to thee, so that thou mightest know the whole, and 
that thou mightest have no excuse when the scourge shall 
come, and shouldst not be able to say, ' I did not know it.' 



2 OO SA VONAROLA. 

I could not say it more clearly to thee. Yet I know that 
this morning I shall be thought a madman." 

In conclusion he says : — 

" I warn you that already Italy is near the beginning of 
her tribulations. O Italy, O princes of Italy, O prelates 
of the Church, the wrath of God is upon you ! and you have 
no remedy unless you repent. O Italy, O Florence, for 
thy sins these trials are coming upon thee ! Repent while 
the sword is yet unsheathed, while it is not yet stained with 
blood. The conclusion is this : I have told thee all these 
things, with reasons divine and human, with moderation, 
restraining my language. I have besought thee. I cannot 
command thee, because I am not thy master, but thy father. 
Do thou act, O Florence ! I can only pray that God may 
enlighten thee." 

Already the enemies of the Frate were becoming 
alarmed at the influence of his words, and tried to have 
him sent to preach elsewhere. At first Pope Alexander 
gave an order to this effect ; but afterwards recalled it, 
so that Savonarola prepared to preach the sermons in 
Lent. He chose as his subject the Book of Job. Al- 
though these sermons have come down to us in a very 
imperfect condition, we can see that he abstained as 
much as possible from allusions to pohtics, and devoted 
his attention to those matters which he had most at 
heart, — the reformation of the people, holy living, the 
union and harmony of the citizens. Even when he 
touches upon liberty, it is with a moral rather than a 
political bearing. 

" The true, the only liberty," he says, "consists in willing 
that which is good. The good religious may seem to you 
not to be free, because he has subjected his will to that of 
another; but he has greater liberty than those who are in 



REFORMATION OF MANNERS. 20 1 

the world, because it is his rule to do that which others 
command. What liberty is there where men are ruled by 
the passions ? And now to our point. Florence, wilt thou 
have liberty ? Citizens, will ye be free ? First love God, 
love your neighbor, love one another, love the common 
good. If you have this love and this union among your- 
selves, you will have true liberty." 

In commending to the people the practice of piety, 
Savonarola made great use of the visions which he had 
seen, as he did when warning them of the coming 
scourge and predicting the renovation of the Church. 
We do not propose to discuss either the visions or the 
gift of prophecy which Savonarola appeared sometimes 
to claim, sometimes to disown. With regard to this 
apparent contradiction in his professions and claims, the 
solution seems easier than has generally been perceived. 
Savonarola evidently employed the phrase that he was 
" no prophet," nor " prophet's son," very much in the 
sense used by the prophet Amos. Probably he went 
farther, and meant that he had no distinct prophetic 
mission, — that he was not especially appointed to do the 
work of a prophet, like Saint John Baptist, for example. 
But it is quite clear that he laid claim to prophetic light. 
He constantly asserted that God had shown him the 
future ; and it would be utterly absurd to question the sin- 
cerity of his pretensions. It will hardly be denied either 
that Savonarola did, in the most remarkable manner, 
forecast the future, — sometimes, it is true, by the force 
of his genius and by his penetrating insight into the 
imaginations of man's heart and into the state of the 
world in his own days ; sometimes, also, in a manner 
which cannot be explained on these principles. It is 
useless to discuss the question whether these supposed 



202 SAVONAROLA. 

revelations were happy guesses or strange coincidences, 
or whether God did actually make known to his servant 
some of those things which were coming upon the earth. 
How far men may be, in an exalted spiritual condition, 
made aware of the secrets of the invisible world, we 
cannot tell. Those who think most deeply on such 
questions will probably be the most backward to pro- 
nounce dogmatically on the subject. What the boundary 
line may be which separates a state of spiritual elevation 
from a state of ecstasy, which divides our ordinary ex- 
perience of heavenly things from a direct intuition of the 
spiritual world, no wise man will attempt to determine. 
Of one thing we have no doubt, — that is, of the absolute 
sincerity of Savonarola, and, to use his own language, 
we know that he was not a madman. Beyond this we 
cannot pronounce, because we do not know. 

One of the most curious instances of his dealing with 
the invisible was his offer to act on behalf of his hear- 
ers as an ambassador to Jesus Christ and to the Blessed 
Virgin. In the sermons of Lent, 1495, he relates con- 
versations which he had with our Lord when engaged 
in this embassy. These communications he employs 
to enforce his teachings on the subject of unity. " Ob- 
serve all nature," he represents our Lord as saying, 
" and thou wilt observe that every creature desires its 
own unity ; every being seeks this, except the people 
of Florence, which wishes only for separation and 
division." 

Speaking on the subject of good living, he again 
represents our Lord as saying, — 

" Good is, of its own nature, diffusive ; and therefore 
I, who am the Supreme Good, diffuse Myself in creation, 
and I have given being to all creatures, so that every good 



REFORMATION IN MANNERS. 203 

which is in them is a participation of My goodness. For 
this I came down among men, was made man, and died 
upon the cross. This, then, will be the sign by which it 
will be known who is good. When any one diffuses his 
goodness among others, and makes them partakers of that 
good which he has in himself, then he is truly good and 
participates in My goodness. . . . Christian life," he goes 
on, "does not consist in ceremonies, but in being good; 
and he who is good cannot refrain from showing his good- 
ness. . . . And in this consists the Christian religion, 
which is founded in love and charity." 

Those who read such reports of these sermons as 
have been preserved to us will form but a shght notion 
of the power which was contained in them, or the 
effects which they produced. Savonarola spoke with 
all the energy of his nature, soul and heart going forth 
in the vehemence of his utterances, and every power 
of body and mind tasked to the uttermost. He felt 
that he was a witness for God in the midst of a world 
which was lying in wickedness. He knew that he was 
the chief guide of the dehberations of the citizens in 
matters which might affect the well-being of Florence 
for many years to come. He was living in times of 
constant change and perplexity, when each day was 
bringing forth new problems which were clamoring for 
solution. He was aware that there were parties in the 
State eager to seize every opportunity which might 
offer itself in order to secure the success of their own 
selfish designs and frustrate his benevolent efforts for 
the common good. Yet none of these things moved 
him. Exhausted in body and mind, he sought for 
momentary repose, only to return with fresh energy 
to the conflict. From the pulpit of Santa Maria del 



2 04 SA VONAKOLA. 

Fiore he hurled forth his thunderbolts against every 
form of iniquity, secure in the consciousness of his 
own integrity, which he saw reflected in the convictions 
of his hearers. When he concluded his course of ser- 
mons on Easter Day, the reporter could not go on to 
the end. He was forced to add : " Such sorrow and 
weeping came upon me that I could go no farther." 
We may judge what was felt by those whose whole at- 
tention was fastened upon the preacher, his words, his 
tones, his gestures. 

But it was not only in the momentary impression 
produced by his sermons that their effect was perceived. 
The aspect of the whole city seemed to be changed. 
The luxuries and indecent costumes which he had so 
indignantly denounced disappeared from the streets and 
the homes of Florence. Hymns were heard every- 
where in place of the Carnival songs which had for- 
merly been popular. Workmen devoted their leisure 
hours to reading the Bible and religious books. The 
neglect of public worship, which he had mentioned as 
one of the signs of the approaching scourge, no longer 
existed. The churches were crowded. Prayer and 
almsgiving seemed to be universal. Men of business 
were led to restore sums of money which they had 
unjustly acquired. Abstinence was practised to such 
an extent that it was thought disgraceful to sell meat 
on days of fasting. Schools and shops were closed 
during the time of preaching. 

The effects of this spreading religious enthusiasm 
were seen in the convent of which Savonarola was the 
head. St. Mark's could no longer contain the can- 
didates for admission into the fraternity. From fifty 
the numbers had risen to more than two hundred. It 



REFORMATION OF MANNERS. 205 

became necessary to add a neighboring building to the 
convent. Young men of the best families in Florence 
fled from the world and took refuge in St. Mark's, be- 
sides men of mature age, distinguished in literature, 
in science, and in the administration of public affairs. 
It was at this time that Savonarola was joined by a 
young convert named Bettuccio, afterwards known as 
Fra Benedetto, who was in after years to become the 
biographer of his superior.-^ He gives an account of his 
reception into the Dominican order which is interest- 
ing as illustrating Savonarola's manner of dealing with 
such cases. The father of Bettuccio was a goldsmith. 
He was himself a miniature-painter in the flower of his 
youth, and addicted to all the prevailing pleasures and 
amusements of his age and time. When he heard of 
the fame of the Frate, he at first refused to go with the 
multitude that crowded around the cathedral pulpit. 
On one occasion a noble lady spoke to him with enthu- 
siasm of the preaching of Savonarola, which at first only 
excited his derision. At last he was induced to go to 
the church ; but he was inclined to leave at once when 
he marked the astonishment caused by his unexpected 
presence in the congregation. When the preacher be- 
gan to speak he was unable to withdraw his eyes from 
his countenance. The word of God spoken by the 
Frate took possession of him ; and then, he says, he 
knew that he was " more dead than alive." 

W^hen the young painter left the church he went 
away by himself to think over what he had heard. He 
returned to his home a changed man. Old pleasures 
and habits and associates were at once forsaken. It 

1 We have heard of him as the author of the Cedrus Libani 
and the Volnera Diligentis. 



206 SAVONAROLA. 

was no easy matter for such a one to shake off his old 
friends. They jested at him. treating his new feelings 
as a passing frenzy which could not endure. But he 
persevered. At first he did not venture into the awful 
presence of the preacher who had so deeply moved 
him ; but he was constantly to be seen at the public 
worship of St, Mark's. At last he went and cast him- 
self at the feet of Savonarola ; but even then he could 
hardly utter what was filling his heart and mind. He 
told him, however, that he wished to enter the convent. 
Savonarola did not fail to speak to him of the danger 
of a hasty decision, of the trials and difficulties of a 
religious life, and advised him to think well of the mat- 
ter, and to know more perfectly his real mind before 
he took such a step. He counselled him also to Uve 
first a Christian life in the world before he entered the 
convent. The counsel, he tells us, was not unneeded. 
He had ample experience of the conflict involved in 
passing from the bondage of the world to the service 
of God during that period of probation. He fell, he 
repented, he showed his sincerity by his devotion, he 
conquered his besetting sins ; and then he returned 
and asked to be received into the brotherhood. But 
still Savonarola delayed to grant the boon. He was 
appointed to assist the sick and to bury the dead, while 
he received frequent instructions on the monastic life. 
At last, on the 7th of November, 1495, he assumed 
the habit, and on the 13th of November in the follow- 
ing year he took the vows under the name of Fra Bene- 
detto. It was an evident proof that the numbers of the 
brethren of St. Mark's had not been swelled by the 
inconsiderate admission of all applicants. They were 
not all destined to prove faithful to their great superior ; 



REFORMATION OF MANNERS. 207 

but it was through no fault of his that any of them 
entered upon a profession which they had not suffi- 
cient devotion to sustain. 

It was not wonderful if Savonarola dreamed of a 
return to those earlier and better days for which he 
had so often longed, and of which he so frequently 
spoke. If he proposed to his disciples a standard of life 
which it was, humanly speaking, impossible to main- 
tain, he had not only his own example to show, but 
the lives of many whom he had drawn from the service 
of sin. For the time at least, it seemed as though the 
success of the political revolution which he had guided 
with such ability was to be equalled by the reformation 
of life and manners which had been wrought by his 
preaching and his example. 



2o8 SAVONAROLA. 



CHAPTER XII. 

DIVISIONS. 

It has been remarked that the highest order of mind 
has seldom been destitute of a sense of humor ; and the 
statement has been illustrated by some of the greatest 
names recorded in history, ranging from Socrates to 
Shakespeare, and appearing in every age of the world. 
It is, however, equally true that the deepest thinkers 
and the most earnest workers have had some touch of 
that melancholic temperament which leads men to take 
desponding views of human life and to regard the most 
brilliant success with a feeling of distrust. When men 
of a less powerful build have been intoxicated with the 
triumph of the moment, the man of most profound and 
comprehensive thought has already begun to discern the 
signs of incompleteness and the approach of reverses 
and of failure. 
I Thus it was with Girolamo Savonarola in the midst of 
successes which have seldom, perhaps never, been at- 
tained in the civil reform of a State by one whose days 
had been spent in retirement and in preaching. While 
Florence was rejoicing in her newly restored liberty and 
in her well-ordered constitution, and lauding to the skies 
the man by whose exertions they had been secured, his 
mind, wearied by the burden it had borne, and discern- 
ing the presence of dangerous elements in the State, was 



DIVISIONS. 209 

oppressed by a profound sadness, mingled with the most 
gloomy apprehensions. " I am weary, O Florence," he 
exclaims at this time, "with four years of continual 
preaching, in which I have done nothing but labor for 
thee ! Besides, I have been afflicted by the continual 
remembrance of the scourge which I have seen approach- 
ing, and the fear lest it should endanger thy safety. For 
this cause I have made continual prayers on thy behalf 
to the Lord." He had never promised that the people 
should continue to enjoy their new-found prosperity and 
happiness but on condition of their repentence ; and 
he could not shut his eyes to the existence of evils 
of all kinds which abounded among the people. More 
particularly he must have seen, in the discussion of the 
" Law of the Six Beans," that there were many of the 
upper class who were not disposed frankly to accept 
the guarantees which he was endeavoring to provide 
for the continuance of a rational liberty, and who were 
ready to use the ignorance and inexperience of the 
multitude as a means of retaining the real power of 
government in their own hands. 

He did not conceal from himself that his own posi- 
tion was one of imminent danger, nor did he hesitate to 
express these convictions in his public preaching. One 
of the most touching references to his position was given 
under the form of a parable. " A young man," he said, 
in a sermon belonging to the course which he preached 
on the prophet Haggai, ^ — 

" A young man, leaving his home, launched forth into 
the sea to fish ; and the master of the ship took him out 
into the high seas, where there was no harbor to be seen ; 
so that the youth began loudly to bewail himself. O Flo- 

1 Advent, 1494. 
14 



210 SAVONAROLA. 

rence, that youth who thus laments is in this pulpit ! I 
was led from my home to the harbor of the religious life, 
when I entered the age of twenty-three years, solely to 
obtain liberty and peace, — two things which I loved above 
everything else. But there I beheld the waters of this 
world, and I began to preach in the hope of winning souls ; 
and while there I found pleasure, the Lord brought me 
down into the sea, and sent me forth into the high seas, 
where I am now, and whence I no longer behold the harbor. 
In all directions there are difficulties. Before my eyes I see 
tribulation and tempests appearing ; behind me the harbor 
is lost, and the wind drives me forth into the deep. On the 
right hand are the elect who are asking for aid ; on the left, 
evil spirits and evil men who molest and trouble us ; above 
I behold Eternal Virtue, and hope urges me on ; beneath is 
hell, which, as a man, I must fear, because without the help 
of God I should certainly fall. O Lord, whither hast Thou 
led me .'' From my desire to save souls for Thee, I am 
come into a place from which I can no longer return to my 
rest. Why hast Thou made me 'a man of strife and a man 
of contention to the whole earth ?' I was free, and now I 
am the servant of all. I see in all directions war and dis- 
cord coming upon me. You, at least, my friends, the chosen 
of God, for whom I afflict myself day and night, do you 
have pity upon me. Give me flowers, as the canticle says, 
'for I am sick of love.' The flowers that I ask for are good 
works ; and I desire nothing else of you but that you please 
God and save your souls." 

Throughoi^t the whole time of which we have spoken 
in the two previous chapters, he was sensible of the 
danger to which he was exposed. Speaking of the 
reward of heaven and that of earth, he asks, — 

" But what, O Lord, shall be the reward granted in the 
other life to him who is victorious in battle ? A thing which 
the eye cannot see, which the ear cannot hear, — eternal 



DIVISIONS. 211 

blessedness. And what the reward granted in this life ? 
' The servant shall not be greater than his master,' answers 
the Lord. ' Thou knowest that after preaching I was cruci- 
fied ; so martyrdom will befall thee also.' O Lord, Lord, 
grant me, I pray Thee, this martyrdom, and make me ready 
to die for Thee, as Thou hast died for me ! Already the 
knife is sharpened for me. But the Lord tells me, ' Wait 
yet for a little while, so that the things may come which 
have to follow ; and then thou wilt use that strength of 
mind which shall be given thee.' " 

It was certainly very remarkable that in these days, 
in which he was the ruling mind of Florence, when 
everything was being ordered in the State according to 
his will, and the moral change already described was 
being brought about, he should have such presentiments 
with regard to his own future history. These forebod- 
ings, however, can hardly be reckoned among the evi- 
dences of his possession of prophetic light. He knew 
too well what was in man, — he knew too well the state 
of men's minds in Florence, — to feel confidence in the 
abiding loyalty of this seemingly enthusiastic and devoted 
people ; and he knew that the seeds of their ancient civil 
discords were not dead, but only waiting for the occasion 
on which they might burst forth into fresh life, and bear 
their evil fruits of division, enmity, and persecution. 

It will need no ordinary attention to understand the 
strange combinations of the various parties in Florence, 
which were brought about by the ever-changing circum- 
stances of the republic, as each saw an opportunity of 
advancing its own views or interests ; but there is no 
great difficulty in distinguishing the parties themselves or 
the banners under which they were ranged. Foremost 
among these parties were those who were called the 



212 SAVONAROLA. 

Arrahbiati (the madmen, the furious party), on account 
of their furious antagonism to Savonarola and his pohcy. 
The leaders of this party belonged principally to the 
upper and more wealthy classes, and to the ancient 
nobihty of Florence, They were in favor of an aristo- 
cratic or oligarchic government such as Florence had, 
at different times, possessed in its earlier days, and were 
utterly opposed to every form of popular or democratic 
government. From the very beginning of Savonarola's 
reforms they had offered a persistent opposition to his 
proposals ; and in one case, already described, they had 
prevented his views from being accepted. They had 
no love for the Medici, since they regarded them as 
the destroyers of the aristocracy ; but common adversity 
and a common opposition to what we should call consti- 
tutional principles made them frequent allies. If they 
were not a numerous body in the State, their wealth 
and position gave them influence ; and they had no 
scruple in using for their purposes the mob whom they 
abhorred and despised. Additional strength was given 
to their party by the support which they received from 
rulers like the Duke of Milan, who saw in the popular 
revolution of Florence an event which might be used as 
an example in their own States. 

At the opposite extreme from the Arrabbiati stood 
the Bmnchi (the Whites, — what we should call " Red 
Republicans "), or extreme democratic party, — mere 
levellers, who would have governed the city by the 
simple force of numbers, and therefore were opposed 
to the exclusive policy on which Savonarola had pro- 
posed to form the greater council, and in accordance 
with which it was finally constituted. They were not a 
numerous party, and they were in a measure conciliated 



DIVISIONS. 213 

by the efforts of the Frate to obtain for the republic the 
reality of liberty, even when he would not adopt their 
method. But no great reliance could be placed upon 
them. They gave to the moderate democracy of Savo- 
narola a support the same in kind, but not so intelligent, 
as that which the republican Garibaldi gave to the con- 
stitutional monarchy of Victor Emmanuel. They were 
always ready to listen to proposals for sweeping changes ; 
and still worse, they were only too Hkely to be made the 
tools of the aristocratic party when these thought they 
could carry their ends by a pretence of consideration for 
the multitude. This actually happened in the " Law of 
the Six Beans." 

Sometimes apart from, sometimes in union with, these 
two sections stood a party far more dangerous, both 
from its numbers and from the secrecy with which its 
proceedings were conducted. This was the party of the 
Medici, known as the Bigi, or Grays. When the Medici 
were driven from Florence, some of their friends were 
banished, some disappeared, and their adherents seemed 
to have vanished from the State. It was owing to Savo- 
narola that the partisans of the fallen family had been 
included in the amnesty granted to political offenders ; 
and they repaid his generosity by continually plotting 
against the peace of the city and the influence of their 
benefactor. The Frate was aware of their designs. He 
knew that they were constantly planning the recall of 
Piero de' Medici, and he warned the people that there 
were those among them who were plotting to overthrow 
their hberty and to restore a despotism ; but they 
were so well satisfied with the changes which had been 
effected that they put down these warnings to an excess 
of zeal. 



214 SAVONAROLA. 

The only pronounced and open enemies of Savo- 
narola and the Frateschi, by which name the adherents 
of the Frate were known, were the Arrabbiati. By them 
the followers of Savonarola were nicknamed Piagnoni 
(weepers, or mourners). It is a circumstance not with- 
out significance that, in the days in which Florence was 
preparing again to fall into the hands of the Medici, 
these two parties became united as the supporters of 
popular government against the pretensions of their an- 
cient tyrants. At the time of their origin the Arrabbiati 
adopted a policy somewhat different. Pretending to 
accept the new popular government, while they were 
ever waiting for an opportunity of overthrowing it, they 
concentrated the energy of their hatred and opposition 
against Savonarola himself, thus hoping to gain the sup- 
port of the Bigi and the Bianchi. The scheme proved 
only too successful, as subsequent events will show. 

There were naturally subdivisions of these parties, of 
which we shall hear in the course of our narrative ; and 
there was a large class, called by Savonarola I Tiepidi 
(the lukewarm), who stood aloof, indifferent to the 
questions, religious or political, which were moving the 
republic at large. 

By a kind of accident Filippo Corbizzi, a declared 
enemy of Savonarola and an opponent of popular gov- 
ernment, was elected gonfaloniere. It was while the 
Accoppiatori were still in power, and were unable to 
agree upon a candidate. To put an end to the strife 
they decided to elect that one who should have most 
votes. Of the twenty electors, only three had voted for 
him ; but it was the largest number, and he was chosen. 
The new gonfaloniere was a mere tool in the hands of 
the aristocratic party, to whom he owed his elevation. 



DIVISIONS. 215 

Soon after his accession to office he convoked in the 
Palazzo a council of theologians, consisting of abbots, 
priors, and canons of San Lorenzo and of the cathedral. 
Among those present was Marsilio Ficino, an admirer 
of the preaching of Savonarola, but a partisan of the 
Medici. As soon as they were assembled, the gon- 
faloniere explained to them that he had to complain of 
Savonarola for interfering in the affairs of the State, and 
he counted on the assistance of those who were present 
in his endeavor to obtain from the Frate an explanation 
of his conduct. 

Savonarola, who had heard nothing of the meeting, 
at this moment entered, and was assailed by a number 
of those present as a disturber of the pubHc peace. 
Foremost among his assailants was a certain friar ^ be- 
longing to his own order, a member of the rival con- 
vent of Santa Maria Novella. This man had a great 
reputation for theological learning, and from the small- 
ness of his stature and his subtlety in argument was 
surnamed // Garofanino (the little Pink). He selected 
as a text for his remarks the words of Saint Paul, Nemo 
militans Deo implicat se negotiis secula7'ibus (the Vul- 
gate rendering of 2 Tim. ii. 4, " No man that warreth 
entangleth himself with the affairs of this life ; " and 
that version was even more suited to his purpose than 
either the original Greek or our own English transla- 
tion). Starting from these words, he proceeded to 
pour out a torrent of invectives against Savonarola for 
meddling with matters which did not belong to his 
sacred vocation. 

The Frate waited patiently for the end of this ha- 

^ Named by some Fra Giovanni Carlo ; in the English trans- 
lation of Villari's new edition Tommaso da Rieti. 



2l6 SAVONAROLA. 

rangiie, and then, standing up, he made a very calm 
reply to his accuser. 

" In me," he said, "is fulfilled that saying of the Lord, 
Filii inatris mece prcgnaverunt contra me, — ' My mother's 
children were angry with me;'^ yet it grieves me to 
see that my fiercest opponent wears the same habit of 
Saint Dominic. That habit should remind him that our 
founder involved himself not a little in the things of this 
world ; that from our order has gone forth a multitude of 
religious and of saints who have concerned themselves in 
the doings of the State. Will the republic of Florence 
remember the Cardinal Latino, Saint Peter Martyr, Saint 
Katharine of Siena, Saint Antonino, who all belonged to 
the order of Saint Dominic ? It is not concerning our- 
selves with the doings of this world, in which God has 
placed us, which is to be condemned in a religious, but it 
is doing so without having regard to a higher end, without 
an eye to the good of religion." 

He then challenged those present to quote a single 
passage which condemned the supporting of a free 
government in order to secure a greater triumph for 
religion and morality. " You will easily find," he 
added, " that religion should not be treated of in pro- 
fane places, or theology discussed in a palace." 

There was no reply ready to this defence, and they 
do not seem to have attempted it. By way of assail- 
ing him on a side which they thought more vulnerable, 
they asked him : " Well, then, tell us distinctly, do your 
words truly come from God, or not, that we may know 
whether we ought to believe you." Savonarola was 
contented to give back the answer of our Lord, and 
probably for the same reason, " Ego palam locutus sum 

1 Cant. i. 6. 



DIVISIONS. 217 

mundo ; . . . et in occiilto locutus sum nihil, — * I spake 
openly to the world ; . . . and in secret have I said 
nothing;'^ and now I have no more to add." And 
so the assembly broke up, little contented with the 
result, but unable to obtain more satisfaction. They 
had only added to the influence of the man whom 
they would willingly have crushed. 

This singular gathering must have been held about 
the same time that Savonarola preached the remarkable 
sermon on the 13th January of which we have given 
a full account. One thing is quite clear, — that it pro- 
duced little difference in his manner of preaching. In 
the following season of Lent, as we have seen, he re- 
stricted himself principally to religious subjects, — prob- 
ably on account of the efforts made by his enemies 
to induce the Pope to put a stop to his preaching in 
Florence ; but during the interval between Advent and 
Lent he still recommended the people to persist in 
the formation of the new government, entreating them 
to cultivate charity, union, and peace. 

The time had not yet come for the Pope's interfe- 
rence. Savonarola had powerful friends at this time 
in Italy. The French were still at Naples ; and the 
Pope, although he was induced at first to send an order 
to the Frate to preach during Lent at Lucca, was after- 
wards led to withdraw his brief. He had heard of the 
visions and prophecies of a Dominican friar at Florence, 
and he knew that he was an object of dislike to a 
section of the population ; but Alexander also knew 
that his withdrawal from Florence would produce the 
greatest indignation in the city, and he was not pre- 
pared to excite the enmity of King Charles. 

1 St. John xviii. 20. 



2l8 SAVONAROLA. 

It was inevitable that Savonarola's sentiment of obe- 
dience should receive a shock from this conduct of the 
supreme Pontiff. It would have been a great trial to 
leave Florence at such a moment, but he was prepared 
to submit. It is probable that he afterwards thought 
less of papal briefs when he found how hghtly they 
were given and recalled by the Pope himself. He 
could not help knowing that the order was originally 
issued to gratify his enemies ; and he must have guessed 
that it was withdrawn from no more worthy motive. 



THE DEPARTURE OF THE FRENCH. 219 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE DEPARTURE OF THE FRENCH. 

The success which had attended the French on their 
first invasion of Italy accompanied them throughout 
their expedition. They reached Naples without having 
encountered any serious obstacle on the way. King 
Alfonso had fled, and the French rule had been estab- 
lished to the apparent satisfaction of the people at large. 
But it was not long before the Neapolitans grew weary 
of their new masters. They soon made it clear that 
they had not come to reform the government, but to 
plunder the inhabitants for their own benefit. At the 
same time, the alarm produced by the facility with 
which the invaders had traversed the whole country 
began to spread among all the princes of Italy. 
Those who had been the foremost to invite them, like 
Lodovico il Moro, now shared in these feelings of 
alarm ; and he who had welcomed them as friends now 
proceeded to form a league of the Italian powers for 
the " expulsion of the barbarians " from the country. 

The League was formed under the pretext of de- 
fending the country against the Turks; and it was 
signed at Venice on the 31st of March, 1495, ^"^^ Pope, 
the Emperor, the King of Spain, and the republic of 
Venice entering into alliance with the Duke of Milan. 
Its true design, however, was immediately discerned 



220 SAVONAROLA. 

by the shrewdness of the French ambassador, De 
Commines, who was still at Venice ; and on the very 
day of the signing of the treaty he wrote to his master 
at Naples, informing him of the confederacy that had 
been formed against him. Burlamacchi relates that 
King Charles, on receiving this intelligence, sent as 
messenger to Savonarola a certain Messer Jacopo, to 
ask whether there would be danger in his return to 
France. "Tell his Majesty, the most Christian king," 
replied the Frate, " that God has conferred upon him 
many benefits, and has granted him to acquire so great 
a kingdom without any difficulty; and although since 
then he has committed many sins, God will not fail 
him, and he need have no doubts as to his enemies, 
for he will return with victory into his own kingdom 
of France." 

It has been suggested that this Messer Jacopo was 
no other than Philippe de Commines, who after having 
written to warn the king of the League formed against 
him, had at once set out for Naples. On his way to 
join the king, he tells us that as he passed through 
Florence he went to pay a visit to Frere Hieronyme, 
who was reported to be a man of very holy hfe ; and 
he did so because the friar had spoken in favor of the 
king, and had prevented the Florentines from rising 
against the French ; " for never any preacher had so 
much authority in a city." 

" He always affirmed that our king would come into Italy, 
saying that he was sent by God to chastise the tyranny 
of the princes, and that none would be able to oppose him. 
He foretold likewise that he would come to Pisa and enter 
it, and that the State of Florence should be dissolved on 
that day. And so it fell out, for Piero de' Medici was 



THE DEPARTURE OP THE PRENCH. 221 

driven out that very day. Many other things he presaged 
long before they came to pass; as, for instance, the death 
of Lorenzo de' Medici. And he openly declared that he 
knew it by revelation ; as likewise he predicted that the 
reformation of the Church should be owing to the sword. 
This is not yet accompHshed ; but it very nearly occurred, 
and he still maintains that it shall come to pass. 

" Many persons blamed him for pretending to receive 
divine revelations, but others believed him; for my part, 
I think him a good man. I asked him whether our king 
would return safe into France, considering the great prepa- 
rations of the Venetians against him; of which he gave 
a better account than I could, though I had lately come 
from Venice. He told me that the king would meet with 
some difficulties by the way, but he could overcome them 
all with honor, though he had but a hundred men in his 
company ; for God, who had conducted him thither, would 
guard him back again. But because he had not applied 
himself as he ought to the reformation of the Church, and 
because he had permitted his soldiers to rob and plunder 
the poor people (as well those who had freely opened 
their gates to him as the enemy which had opposed him), 
therefore God had pronounced judgment against him, and 
in a short time he would receive chastisement. 

" However, he bade me tell him that, if he would have 
compassion upon the people, and command his army to 
do them no wrong, and punish them when they did, as it 
was his office to do, God would then mitigate, if not revoke, 
his sentence ; but that it would not be sufficient for him 
to plead that he did them no wrong himself. And he said 
that he would meet the king when he came, and tell him 
so from his own mouth ; and so he did, and pressed hard 
for the restitution of the Florentine towns. When he 
mentioned the sentence of God against him, the death of 
the dauphin came very fresh into my mind, for I knew 
nothing else that would touch the king so sensibly. This 
I have thought it fit to record, to make it the more manifest 



222 SA VON AR OLA. 

that this whole expedition was a mystery conducted by 
God Himself."! 

This testimony is valuable, not only as furnishing us 
with the judgment of one who was a keen observer of 
his fellow-men and an experienced man of the world, 
but also from its entire agreement with all that we learn 
of Savonarola, his words and his tone, from other trust- 
worthy sources. The man who thus addresses the 
ambassador of France, and who assumes no different 
attitude towards his master, the king himself, is the 
same man of whom we read in the pages of his con- 
temporaneous biographers, and who speaks to us from 
the pulpit of the cathedral church of Florence. 

The king did not wait for the arrival 'of Commines ; he 
left Naples on the 20th of May (1495), leaving a strong 
garrison in the forts, and taking the rest of his army 
with him. On his way he visited Rome, intending to 
have an interview with the Pope ; but Alexander had 
left the city and had fled to Orvieto. Continuing his 
march, he reached Siena on the 13th of June. The 
Florentines had lost all faith in King Charles and the 
French. They would not enter into alliance with their 
enemies, but they dreaded equally their friendship 
and their enmity. They were already discovering what 
Machiavelli was shortly to write of the French, that they 
were quite ready to make promises which they had not 
the power to fulfil, but that they never fulfilled those 
which they were able to keep. The king had promised 
that he would restore the fortresses which Piero de' 
Medici had delivered into his hands, as soon as he 
should get possession of Naples ; but they were still 

! Book viii. c. 3. Bohn's translation, vol. ii. pp. 190, 191. 



THE DEPARTURE OP THE PRENCH. 223 

garrisoned by his soldiers. The Florentines had re- 
monstrated with him on this breach of faith, and they 
had endeavored to recover Pisa by force of arms ; but 
the Pisans received reinforcements from different parts 
of Italy, and even, it was said, from the French king 
himself. The only answer he returned to the remon- 
strances of the Florentines was this : " But what can I 
do if your Signori make all their subjects discontented 
with them ? " 

When the news reached Florence that the French 
had entered the territories of the republic and that 
Piero de' Medici was with them, the wrath and terror 
of the citizens knew no bounds. It was generally be- 
lieved that the king intended to restore the hated ty- 
ranny from which they had escaped. All ages and 
classes flew to arms, and they hastened to put the city 
in a state of defence. Piagnoni and Arrabbiati joined 
in arms, in counsel, and in prayers. The city was given 
up to religious exercises ; and the Frate had to com- 
plain that some were wilhng to join in their prayers, but 
neglected to take up arms. " Offer prayer," he cried 
from the pulpit, " but do not neglect human precautions. 
We must help ourselves in every way, by every means, 
and then the Lord will be with us. Courage, my breth- 
ren, and above all things union. If you remain united 
and agreed in one will, even if the whole world were 
against us, the victory will be ours." 

When the Florentines sent ambassadors to the king, 
asking by what route he intended to march, that they 
might furnish provisions, he only replied : " Provide the 
whole country." It was impossible that the meeting 
should be a friendly one when the French saw the Flo- 
rentines flying to arms at their approach, and the 



^24 SAVONAROLA. 

ambassadors of the State found Piero de' Medici in the 
camp of the king. 

It was then that the citizens, as in all their most hope- 
less perplexities, turned to Savonarola. They knew that 
Charles had listened respectfully to him at Pisa when 
he would hardly give an audience to their ambassadors. 
They remembered that it was by the persuasion of the 
Frate that he had led his army out of Florence. By an 
accident a letter of his, written to King Charles, fell into 
the hands of his enemies, and disclosed the fact that he 
was carrying on a correspondence with him. But al- 
though the letter was garbled in its publication, and was 
actually pubhshed in order to incite the Venetian League 
against Savonarola, it served only to increase the esteem 
in which he was held by his fellow-citizens. It was 
couched in the same bold and imperious language which 
he had employed at the interviews, — the same which, as 
a prophet of righteousness proclaiming the will of God, 
he ever felt that he had a right to use. 

" Most Christian Sire," he said, " the Lord wills that the 
Florentines should remain in alliance with your Majesty ; 
but He also wills that, under your protection, their liberties 
should be confirmed, and not the authority of any particu- 
lar citizen, — because the Divine Goodness has determined 
everywhere to put down despotism. The Lord will punish 
terribly those private citizens who shall wish to usurp 
dominion in this flourishing republic, as it has been in the 
past ; because this new and popular government and ad- 
ministration has been appointed by God, and not by any 
man, and because He has chosen this city, and will magnify 
it, and replenish it with His own servants ; and he who 
touches it, touches the apple of His eye. Wherefore, O 
Sire, if you will not obey, and will not maintain your prom- 
ises to the Florentines, and will not restore their fortresses, 



THE DEPARTURE OF THE FRENCH. 225 

many will be the adversities which will come upon you, 
and the people will rebel against you." 

The same language which he had used in his letters 
he did not hesitate to employ when he again met the 
king face to face at Poggibonsi. Savonarola reminded 
him that he was now returning home, almost a fugitive ; 
and that he had brought these misfortunes upon himself, 
as his monitor had predicted that he would, if he refused 
to accomplish the work for which God had brought him 
into Italy. 

"Most Christian Prince," he said, "thou hast provoked 
the anger of the Lord by not having maintained thy faith 
to the Florentines ; by having abandoned that reform of 
the Church which the Lord had so often through me an- 
nounced to thee, and to which He had chosen thee by such 
manifest signs. For this time thou wilt escape from these 
dangers ; but if thou resume not the work which thou hast 
abandoned, if thou obey not the commands repeated anew 
to thee by His unworthy servant, I announce to thee that 
still greater will be the adversities which the wrath of God 
will send upon thee, and another will be chosen in thy 
place." 

The king was deeply impressed by this bold language, 
and by the tone in which it was uttered ; and requested 
that Savonarola would accompany him to Pisa, whither 
he now conducted his army. Savonarola, however, after 
a second interview at Castel Fiorentino, returned home ; 
and from the pulpit he announced, on the 21st of June, 
that for this time the danger was over, and took occa- 
sion again to entreat the people to be diligent in prayer 
and holy living, to cherish union, and to preserve the 
popular government. 

The Pisans received the king with every demonstra- 

15 



226 SAVONAROLA. 

tion of joy. After doing their best to conciliate him and 
his followers by costly presents, a number of the most 
beautiful women of the city came to him one day clothed 
in mourning, with their hair dishevelled, their feet bare, 
and ropes round their necks, representing the bondage 
and misery in which they were held by Florence ; and 
implored him to restore their liberty. Such a request, 
however reasonable in itself, it was not in the power of 
the king to grant. He had contracted to restore Pisa 
to the Florentines. To this engagement he had added 
most solemnly his own kingly word ; but we have seen 
enough of his character to know how lightly he would 
hold any such promises. It was a strange way that he 
took of at once setting at nought the sentiments of com- 
passion which the entreaties of the Pisan women had 
awakened, and of breaking his engagements with Flo- 
rence. He neither gave Pisa liberty nor restored the 
fortresses to Florence, but leaving garrisons behind 
him, he took his way to France. The whole expedition 
was productive only of evil. The French had disgusted 
their allies, they had disappointed their most moderate 
hopes, and had simply left an ineradicable impression of 
their own selfishness, rapacity, and faithlessness. The 
king pretended that he had given orders for the sur- 
render of the fortresses to Forence ; and it is said that 
in the month of September following, he sent an express 
command that they should be delivered up. Whether 
he at the same time sent private orders to the contrary, 
or whether his generals knew that they might safely dis- 
regard the instructions they had received, the result was 
the same. In January, 1496, the generals sold the 
fortress of Pisa to the citizens ; those of Sarzana and 
Sarzanello to the Genoese ; that of Pietra Santa to the 



THE DEPARTURE OF THE FRENCH. 227 

Lucchese ; to the Florentines only that of Leghorn was 
restored. The French king had disappointed the expec- 
tations of Savonarola, and had apparently shaken off the 
fears engendered by his solemn warnings. When both 
the king and the Frate were dead, Philippe de Comnnines 
remembered these things and wrote : — 

"I am sure he foretold several things which afterwards 
came to pass, and which all his friends in Florence could 
never have suggested. And as to our master, and the evils 
with which he threatened him, they happened exactly as 
you have heard, — first the death of the Dauphin, and then 
his own death ; predictions of which I have seen in letters 
under his own hand to the king." ^ 

Deeply as Florence had suffered from the invasion of 
the French, it still had reason to fear the effects of their 
departure. Partly from old attachment, partly from fear, 
partly from the state of isolation into which it had fallen, 
the city remained faithful to its ancient allies. The 
Florentines now declared Charles to be " a man without 
honor or shame or prudence, — an assassin, a thief, 
who paid no regard to his promises, and was destitute 
of all morality and of every trace of religion ; and his 
ministers the basest, the most greedy, and the most per- 
fidious men that could be imagined." But the presence 
of the French had at least kept their other enemies at 
bay ; and now that the League had no longer any reason 
to fear the invaders, they were able to turn their enmity 
against the Florentines. It has already been mentioned 
that the principal governments of Italy had resented the 
expulsion of the Medici, and regarded the newly formed 
constitution with great aversion. The Pope and the 

1 Book viii. c. 26. 



228 ' SAVONAROLA. 

Venetians were bent upon restoring Piero ; but happily 
for the Florentines, Ludovico of Milan not only had a 
personal dislike to him, but cherished some hope of 
forming the whole of Northern Italy into a united king- 
dom. His support, therefore, although it was promised 
to the enterprise, was of a very uncertain and untrust- 
worthy character. 

The Florentines made energetic preparations to resist 
this new invasion of their recovered liberties. Savo- 
narola, who had for a time abstained from preaching, in 
consequence of reports from Rome that he was becoming 
more and more distasteful to the Pope, now returned to 
the pulpit; and on the nth of October his voice was 
again heard exhorting them to defend their constitution, 
and to neglect no means of repelling those who were 
now endeavoring to overthrow it. 

When it was in any way possible to extend pardon 
and amnesty, even to those whom he regarded as trai- 
tors, Savonarola's voice was ever raised in favor of 
clemency and mercy; but when the interests of the 
commonwealth were at stake, when he saw that those 
who had been treated with excessive forbearance were 
only the more bent upon overthrowing the authority 
which had dealt so mercifully with them, he did not 
hesitate to counsel the strongest and severest measures 
that could be taken to avert the threatened danger. 
Speaking of the friends of the Medici, who were now 
plotting to restore the fallen despotism, he declared that 
the punishment which was their due was death. 

"You must deal with them," he says, "as the Romans 
did with those who wished to bring back Tarquin. . . . Do 
justice, I tell you. . . . This great council is the work of 
God, and not of men ; and whoever wishes to change it, 



THE DEPARTURE OF THE FRENCH. 229 

whoever wishes to set up a tyrant, whoever wishes to make 
a government of private citizens, will be accursed of the 
Lord forever." 

There was to be no mercy for such; whoever they 
were, they were to lose their heads. 

The danger soon passed away. Piero collected 
money and troops, and advanced against the city with 
the intention of forcing an entrance ; but the promised 
reinforcements did not arrive, and he was not able to 
begin the attack. The government of Florence, stirred 
up by the words of Savonarola, declared Piero de' Medici 
a rebel against the State, so that he might with impunity- 
be put to death. And they further offered a reward of 
four thousand gold florins to whoever should kill Piero, 
and two thousand for the head of Giuhano de' Medici ; 
and officers were appointed to administer their property 
for the benefit of the republic. 

But they did not restrict themselves to mere threats. 
They suspended the war against Pisa, and sent an army 
into the field against Piero, who was still remaining 
inactive, expecting the assistance which the League had 
promised. At last, seeing that his present enterprise 
had become hopeless, he fled to Rome, where he strove 
to embitter the Pope against Florence and its teacher, 
and hatched new schemes for the repair of his broken 
fortunes. 



230 . SAVONAROLA. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

POPE ALEXANDER VI. AND SAVONAROLA. 

It is difficult to write the simple truth respecting the 
man who occupied the papal throne under the name 
of Alexander VI. without appearing to repeat the in- 
ventions of blinded prejudice and inveterate and reck- 
less enmity. Yet the proved facts of his personal and 
official life are almost as bad as any hostile fabrications 
could be made ; and the very fables and legends which 
have gathered around his history are an evidence 
of the impression which he produced upon his own 
contemporaries. 

As an instance of these stories, a writer of the period ^ 
gravely relates that the manner of his death was uncer- 
tain, some believing that he had been carried off by 
a demon, others that he was poisoned by wine which 
he or his son had prepared for one of his cardinals. 
The story of the poisoning is now discredited ; but 
it shows us in what estimation his Holiness was held. 

As we have here to do with his actions in relation 
to the subject of this memoir, rather than with his 
general character or history, a very few words must 
suffice on these points. Rodrigo Borgia belonged to 
a noble Spanish family. He came to Rome during 
the pontificate of his uncle, Calixtus III., and was by 

^ Pico della Mirandola the younger. 



POPE ALEXANDER VI. AND SAVONAROLA. 23 1 

him made Archbishop of Valentia and cardinal before 
he was twenty-five years of age. Even those v^^ho take 
the worst view of his character do not deny that he 
was a man of very great ability, and that he attained 
to a certain kind of political influence, and even of 
popularity, among his own subjects. He had at least 
four sons and one daughter, — all illegitimate, of course ; 
but that was not thought much of in those days. He 
obtained the papal chair by bribing a majority of car- 
dinals to vote for him. It is said that his countryman, 
King Ferdinand "the Catholic," wept when he heard 
that he was made Pope, and predicted the evils which 
would follow to the Church. Crimes of the most 
frightful character have been laid to his charge, and 
his vices have probably been exaggerated. But it is 
agreed on all sides that there has hardly ever been 
a Pope who did more to disgrace the papal chair. He 
was impure, treacherous, and guilty of the most open 
and unblushing simony. A Latin couplet of the period 
is not too severe : — 

" Vendit Alexander claves, altaria, Christum. 
Emerat ille prius, vendere jure potest." 

"Alexander sells keys, altars, Christ. 

He had first bought them : he has a right to sell them. 

As the most monstrous characters in history have 
not been without their defenders, so it has been at- 
tempted to deny nearly all the more serious charges 
brought against Alexander ; but it is evident that it is 
with a sense of the arduousness of the task that his 
cause has been pleaded. One of the latest of those 
who have sought at least to mitigate the sentence of 
history confesses that he would have liked to close 



232 SAVONAROLA. 

the history of the Popes of the fifteenth century " with 
a holy and more glorious figure than his ; " and adds, 
" Say, if you please, that Alexander VI. dishonored 
religion and humanity, we will not contradict you ; " ^ 
only his is an exceptional character among the Popes. 
It will be sufficient here to deal with those of his ac- 
tions which belong to our history. 

When the enemies of Savonarola first reported to 
Pope Alexander the bold and censorious language 
which the Frate was using with reference to the rulers 
of Church and State, he was inclined to regard his 
words as the utterances of a fanatic who might safely 
be treated with contempt; and probably the reports 
of the visions and prophecies of the Frate confirmed 
him in this judgment. When, moreover, he considered 
that the Florentine mystic was held in honor by the 
French king, he saw the inexpediency of using harsh 
measures against him while so powerful a friend was 
still at Naples. 

Shortly after the departure of the French, the enmity 
against the Frate, kept in check by the dangers of the 
republic and by the necessity for union among its par- 
ties, broke out afresh. The Arrabbiati, backed up 
by Ludovico il Moro, sent to Rome reports of his ser- 
mons exaggerated and distorted. He was represented 
as a seditious citizen, as a disloyal priest, as the enemy 
of all authority and stable government. Refugees of 
the Medicean party who had taken up their residence 
at Rome denounced him as the author of all their mis- 
fortunes. His old opponent, Fra Mariano da Gennaz- 
zano, did not hesitate to declare that he was a heretic. 

1 Abbe Christophe, La Papaute pendant le quinzieme Siecle, 
ii. 580. 



POPE ALEXANDER VI. AND SAVONAROLA. 233 

The Pope determined at length to put an end to 
the work of the Florentine preacher ; but he thought 
it best first to try the effect of flattery. 

"Beloved son," wrote his Holiness, "health (^sahiteni) 
and apostolic benediction ! We have heard by the testi- 
mony of many that, of all the laborers in the vineyard of 
the Lord of Sabaoth, thou art the most zealous. At which 
we greatly rejoice and give praises to Almighty God, who 
has bestowed such grace on a human being. Nor do we 
doubt that thou hast these things from the Divine Spirit, 
who distributes immortal graces, and that thou canst sow 
the word of God in a Christian people, and bring forth 
fruit an hundred-fold. ... It has recently been related 
to us, also, that in thy public sermons thou dost assert 
that those things which thou dost announce concerning 
the future, thou speakest not of thyself or of human wis- 
dom, but by divine revelation. Desiring, therefore, as be- 
longs to our pastoral office, to speak with thee on these 
subjects, and to hear from thy mouth, that we may by thee 
attain to a better knowledge and practice of that which is 
pleasing to God, we exhort and command thee, in virtue 
of holy obedience, to come to us as soon as possible. We 
will see thee with paternal love and charity. — Rome, 21st 
July, 1495." 

It is useless to waste words in discussing the sincerity 
of this document. The influences under which it had 
been produced were too well known in Florence for 
Savonarola to stand in doubt of it for a moment. Al- 
ready the attempts upon his life had begun. Already 
his enemies had been heard to boast that they had 
secured the ear of the Pope. It was therefore clear 
to his friends that he could not with safety accept this 
affectionate invitation ; and yet the Frate was far from 
being prepared to disobey the commands of the 



234 SAVONAROLA. 

Supreme Pontiff, whom he regarded as the Vicar of 
Jesus Christ. 

Happily for Savonarola, he was able to plead that 
he was only recovering from a severe illness, caused by 
the excitement of those terrible days in which all his 
energies were needed for the guidance of his anxious 
and perplexed fellow-citizens. He resolved for a sea- 
son to abstain from preaching, and to put his friend 
Fra Domenico Buonvicini, commonly known as Do- 
menico da Pescia, in his place. On the 28th of July, 
therefore, he took his leave of the people, telling them 
that although for the moment he regained his strength 
when he ascended the pulpit, he was unable at present 
to continue his work. He repeated to them many of 
the lessons which he had so often inculcated, on the 
necessity of moral and religious renovation, telling them 
of the frightful vices which still prevailed in the city. 
He exhorted them to a more serious life, reminding 
them that a time of such dangers was not a time for 
festivals and dances. Then he spoke of the prophetic 
gift. Again he besought them to retain the form of 
government which they had established, and said that 
when his health was restored, he would preach to them 
again, although he -believed he had shortened his life 
by his past efforts. " And now," he concludes, " you 
will ask, Frate, what reward do you expect for this ? 
I expect martyrdom. I am content to endure it. I 
ask it of Thee, O Lord, every day, for love of this 
city 1 " 

Three days later, he sent his answer to the Pope, 
beginning, " Most Blessed Father, after kissing thy 
blessed feet," and proceeding to set forth the duty of 
obedience and his own desire, long entertained, to visit 



POPE ALEXANDER VI. AND SAVONAROLA. 235 

Rome. In spite of this, he says, he is forced to offer 
excuses for not at once complying with the Pope's com- 
mand ; and he quotes the language of Alexander IV. 
as showing the lawfulness of the course he is taking. 
As a reason for his inability to come to Rome, he 
urges the state of his health, weakened by unremitting 
toil of body and mind in behalf of the city, in conse- 
quence of which his physicians had advised him to 
abstain from preaching and study, otherwise his life 
might be in danger. He then proceeds to inform the 
Pope that his presence is still needed in Florence in 
consequence of the change in the government and the 
designs of the enemies of the State, which were pecu- 
liarly dangerous while the institutions of the republic 
were still in their infancy. So violent indeed were 
those enemies that they had tried to cut him off by 
poison or the sword, so that it was hardly safe for him 
to go into the city without guards. 

He then goes on to express the hope that his Holi- 
ness would not be offended by a short delay, and he 
would endeavor, before long, to obey his command. 
If his Holiness wished in the mean time to become 
acquainted with what he had taught concerning the 
future, of the scourging of Italy and the renovation 
of the Church, he would find a full account of it in a 
book which he had just caused to be printed {^Com- 
pendium Revelationum), -^ which he had put forth that 
the world might know that he was a false prophet if the 
things which he had predicted did not take place. " I 
beseech your Holiness," he concludes, " to accept my 
most sincere and open excuses, and to beHeve that 

1 Published in Italian (Compendio di Revelatione, etc.) soon 
after, — Sept. i, 1495. ^ have used both editions. 



236 SAVONAROLA. 

there is nothing which I more earnestly desire than 
to render entire obedience.'" The Pope gave no an- 
swer to this letter ; but as Savonarola afterwards stated 
that he had accepted his excuse, we may infer that this 
assurance was in some manner conveyed to him. 

To his astonishment, during the period of his retire- 
ment a new brief was issued by the Pope, and this time 
directed to the Franciscans of Santa Croce, the ene- 
mies of Savonarola, speaking of him as " a certain Fra 
Girolamo," — the same man, be it observed, who had 
been addressed, not two months before, as his " beloved 
son," — denouncing him as a disseminator of false doc- 
trine, and commanding him at once to appear in Rome. 
It was evident that this was intended as an expression 
of undisguised anger and enmity ; but it was less easy 
to understand the sudden change of tone. It may be 
that the contents of the Compendium had inflamed 
the Pope's mind, but it is more probable that the 
change had been brought about by the machinations 
of the Medici ; for it was at this time that Piero was 
carrying forward his attempt to regain possession of 
Florence. Instead of obeying the Pope's command, 
Savonarola reappeared in the pulpit and delivered 
those sermons already mentioned, in which he besought 
his fellow-citizens to resist the restoration of the Medi- 
cean despotism. The Pope issued another brief, for- 
bidding him to preach. The Frate again withdrew 
from the pulpit, and the Advent Sermons at the cathe- 
dral were preached by Fra Domenico. 

The charges now brought against Savonarola were the 
more serious, as giving an authoritative expression to 
the accusations of his enemies at home. But he knew 
that the charges of heresy were only a cloak to disguise 



POPE ALEXANDER VI. AND SAVONAROLA. 237 

the hatred excited by his political action. If he would 
have refrained from denouncing the vices of those who 
were in high places ; if he would have allowed, without 
interference, Bigi or Arrabbiati to have their own way 
in Florence ; if he would have suffered the overthrow of 
that civil liberty which, next to the moral and spiritual 
good of the people, he most ardently loved, — he might 
have held and taught what opinions he pleased. Al- 
though he consented, for the time, to observe the silence 
imposed by the papal brief, — and at this time he was 
resolved not to preach until he obtained permission from 
Rome, — he did not for a moment waver in his convic- -^ 
tions, nor in his determination to give effect to them in 
every way that might seem possible and lawful. 

It was about this time that an incident occurred which 
has been recorded by several writers. Burlamacchi re- 
lates that a terrible sermon preached by Savonarola had 
inflamed the anger of a number of private persons against 
the preacher. These persons were chiefly " lukewarm 
ecclesiastics, vicious men, usurers, gamblers, drunkards," 
and the like, and they had made their complaints heard 
at Rome. Whatever the immediate cause may have been, 
it is said that the Pope sent some of Savonarola's writ- 
ings to a bishop of the Dominican order, with instruc- 
tions to examine them, in order to find grounds for 
condemning the author as guilty of heresy. The bishop 
returned the compositions, giving his judgment that the 
utterances of the Frate were all good and wise, inasmuch 
as he spoke against simony and the corruption of the 
priests, which ^vere undoubtedly very great. Such a 
man, he said, was to be treated as a friend, and not as 
an enemy, and he advised the Pope to make him a 
cardinal. 



238 SAVONAROLA. 

If the story were not confirmed by a multitude of 
contemporaneous testimonies, it might appear too im- 
probable to be easily believed. The evidence, however, 
seems too strong to be resisted ; and additional confir- 
mation is found in various indirect references to the 
offer in the sermons of Savonarola. The Pope was a 
statesman of consummate ability, and acting on the the- 
ory that every man has his price, he probably saw in this 
measure a more easy and ready escape from his difficul- 
ties than by the more clumsy and violent method of per- 
secution. A Dominican was accordingly despatched 
from Rome, empowered to offer Savonarola the red 
hat, on the condition that he would alter his style of 
preaching. 

It was to Savonarola a shocking confirmation of all 
his worst impressions of the state of matters at the papal 
court. Already murmurs had been heard of the Pope 
having obtained his chair by simony. The Cardinal of 
San Pietro in Vincoli, the same who was in the way of 
denouncing his Holiness as a " scoundrel and a heretic," 
was meditating the calling of a council to try Alexander 
for this crime ; and in that intention he was supported 
by some of the princes of Europe. Savonarola was prob- 
ably beginning to have his mind familiarized with the 
same idea. And here he had tangible proof of the man- 
ner in which the offices of the Church were conferred 
so as to subserve the corrupt designs of the Roman 
court. He was so indignant at the offer that he only 
returned for answer : " Come to my next sermon, and 
you shall hear my reply to Rome." 

As the time of this offer is not quite certain, we are 
unable to say what sermon of his was here referred to, 
nor do we know whether it has been preserved. In a 



POPE ALEXANDER VI. AND SAVONAROLA. 239 

sermon preached in the year 1496 he makes an evident 
allusion to the proposal : " I do not wish for hats, nor 
for mitres great or small. I wish only for that which 
Thou hast given to Thy saints, for death. A red hat — 
a hat red with blood — that is what I desire." At dif- 
ferent times he is reported as saying, " If I had wished 
for dignities, you know well that I should not now be 
wearing this ragged cloak." 

By the influence of " the Ten," — formerly known as 
the "Ten of War," but now called the "Ten of Liberty 
and Peace," — the Pope had been induced to withdraw 
his inhibition from Savonarola and to restore to him 
the liberty of preaching. In spite, therefore, of the 
machinations of his enemies, and of the constant 
attempts against his life, he determined this year (1496) 
to preach the Lent sermons in the cathedral. 

The news of his reappearance in the pulpit after his 
long silence (from October, 1495, ^° February, 1496) 
produced the greatest excitement in Florence, and all 
possible precautions were taken by the magistrates to 
prevent disorders arising in the city. The crowds that 
assembled to hear the preacher were enormous ; and a 
new element appeared in the audience. This was a 
congregation of children, for whose accommodation a 
special gallery had been erected. During the time of 
his retirement, Savonarola had turned his attention to 
the instruction of those who, from their tender years, 
were more open to the reception of religious impres- 
sions. He was specially prompted to this undertaking 
by the excesses in which the children had been accus- 
tomed to indulge at the time of the Carnival. His efforts 
had such success that he organized large numbers of 



240 SAVONAROLA. 

children, formed them into guilds, and instructed them 
to sing hymns instead of the songs which had formerly 
been heard at that season ; and instead of indulging 
in mischievous and dangerous amusements, they now 
employed themselves in collecting alms for the relief 
of the poor.-^ 

When the Frate appeared outside the convent on his 
way to begin his Lent sermons (February 17, 1496), he 
was greeted with loud shouts of joy by the populace ; 
and his enemies were held in check alike by the enthu- 
siasm of his friends and the watchfulness of the govern- 
ment. It was one of the significant moments in his 
history. Within a period of seven months he had been 
addressed by Rome as one who was little short of a saint, 
and denounced as a seditious person and a disseminator 
of heresy ; he had been inhibited from preaching by 
the Pope, and the inhibition had been removed ; and 
all men were wondering in what strain he would break the 
long and unwonted silence to which he had submitted. 

He began his sermon with a dialogue, in which he 
replied to imaginary questions respecting his absence 
from the pulpit. Had he been afraid of death that he 
had not preached ? No ; for in that case he would not 
be here now, seeing that he was in greater peril of death 
than before. Had he, then, had scruples of conscience 
on the subject? Not he. But had not his doctrines 
been condemned ? Let it be supposed that it were so ; 
he had taken himself to task, as to his Hfe, as to his 
words, whether he had spoken unadvisedly or errone- 
ously ; but he could not find that he had done so, — 

"Because I have always believed, and do believe, all 
that the Holy Roman Church believes. I have written to 

1 It was known as the Riforma del fanciulli. 



POPE ALEXANDER VI. AND SAVONAROLA. 241 

Rome that if I have preached or written anything heretical, 
I am content to amend and recant here in public. I am 
always prepared to obey the Roman Church, and I say that 
he who does not obey will be damned. ... I declare and 
confess that the Church will never fail even to the day of judg- 
ment ; and that it may be clear what I mean, as there are 
various opinions as to what is the Catholic Church, I refer 
myself to Christ and to the decision of the Roman Church." 

But, he goes on, it does not therefore follow that we 
are bound to obey every command of our superiors, or 
even of the Pope. A superior could not require obe- 
dience contrary to the constitution of his order. The 
Pope could have no right to give a command contrary 
to charity or to the Gospel. " I do not believe that the 
Pope will ever do so ; but if he did, I should say to him, 
' In this case thou art not pastor, thou art not the 
Roman Church, thou errest.' " If a superior should re- 
quire anything contrary to the commandments of God, 
it would be wrong to comply, because it is written : " We 
ought to obey God rather than man." If there were 
the least doubt on the subject, however, it would be a 
duty to obey. 

He then proceeds to consider his own case, and 
argues that if he should be commanded to depart from 
Florence, he should not be bound to obey, because it 
was well known that not only would such a command 
be the result of political hatred, but obedience would be 
injurious to liberty and to religion ; and if he saw that 
his departure would be spiritual and temporal ruin to 
the people, he would obey no living man who should 
command him to depart. 

He then declares that having found nothing in his 
own life or doctrine at variance with the requirements 
16 



242 SAVONAROLA. 

of the Church, and having persuaded himself that the 
briefs from Rome were null, because they proceeded 
upon false and malicious information, he had neverthe- 
less decided to use prudence, and had therefore obeyed 
by observing silence. And so he would have continued 
but for the evils which he had seen resulting from it. 
He had loved peace and retirement, but he had been 
forced to put forth upon a tempestuous sea where the 
winds were all contrary. 

" I should wish to go into port, but I cannot find the 
way ; I wish to seek repose, but I find no place ; I should 
wish to remain silent and not speak, but I cannot, — because 
the Word of God in my heart is like a fire which, if I do 
not send it forth, burns the very marrow of my bones. Now, 
O Lord, since Thou wiliest that I should sail in this deep 
sea, Thy will be done ! " 

This sermon, the first of a series on the Books of 
Amos and Zechariah, gave a sketch of the subjects on 
which he intended to speak throughout the whole season 
of Lent. It would appear that these were the most 
powerful and impressive sermons of all that he preached 
at Florence. Never had he spoken with more perfect 
self-control, judgment, and care ; and yet never had he 
lashed the vices of the age or the corruptions of Rome 
with more unsparing severity. Again and again he 
warned his hearers that their Hberties were in danger 
from those who had themselves no regard to the honor 
of God or the well-being of His people. Their enemies 
were in Florence, they were in Rome. Their daggers 
and their anathemas were being prepared for him who 
warned the people of their danger. But the judgments 
of God were coming upon the wicked. There would be 
such destruction of hfe that there would not be people 



POPE ALEXANDER VI. AND SAVONAROLA. 243 

enough to bury the dead. The pestilence would sweep 
them away in such numbers that they would have to 
carry them away on carts and horses, and pile them in 
heaps and burn them. 

" Come forth," he cried, quoting the prophet Zecha- 
riah, " and flee from the land of the North, — that is, 
from the vices of the world, — and turn to Christ. A day 
of darkness is coming. It will rain fire and flames and 
stones, and it will be a time of trouble." The land of 
the North was Babylon, and the preacher could not 
avoid a reference to the city which he always spoke 
of as the existing representative of the ancient city of 
confusion. Taking up the passage of the prophet from 
which he had quoted, he proceeds again : — 

" ' Deliver thyself, O Zion that dwellest with the daugh- 
ter of Babylon ! ' Deliver yourselves from it, that is, from 
Rome; for Babylon means confusion, and Rome has con- 
fused the whole Scripture, has confused all vices together, 
has confused everything. Flee, then, deliver yourselves 
from Rome, and turn to repentance ! " 

There was one element, however, which was painfully 
present in the sermons of this period, — the sense that 
he was in a manner placed upon his trial and required 
to defend himself from the accusations of heresy and 
sedition. He was not less bold, less fierce, less confi- 
dent in his denunciations of evil. As has been said, 
he was not less powerful or less impressive in his utter- 
ances. But he was not, as in former days, the teacher, 
the guide, whose truth and integrity none might dare 
to question, although they might desire and endeavor to 
moderate the tone of his warnings and rebukes. His 
enemies not only waxed more wroth as they smarted 



244 SAVONAROLA. 

under the lash of his terrible words, unveiling vice with 
a plainness which we can now hardly imagine, they 
were also able to arm themselves with the authority of 
the Church, and to proceed against their enemy as 
against one who was seeking to destroy the very fabric 
which he was professing to defend. They forced him 
into a position in which, by vindicating his conduct, he 
necessarily implied the presence of a doubt ; and by 
excusing his action he seemed to be accusing himself. 

In the last sermon of this series he returns to the 
subject of his dispute with the Pope, — 

" Who does not know that the brief was issued to sup)- 
port my enemies and those of the republic who dissemi- 
nated falsehoods and calumnies against me ? Who does 
not know that my departure would not only be most dan- 
gerous to my own life, but also injurious to this people and 
ruinous to its liberty, that good customs would be aban- 
doned, and religion come to the ground ? It is this, in- 
deed, that my enemies desire. I therefore believe that the 
Holy Father has been deceived by the false accusations of 
my detractors ; and I obey rather that which I believe to 
have been his intention, and will not suppose that he 
desires the ruin of a whole people." 

But he never lost sight of the probable end of the 
conflict, the end which to him, indeed, seemed ever 
more certain. " What will be the end of the war which 
thou sustainest?" he supposes his hearers to ask. "If 
you ask me in general, I answer that it will be victory ; 
if you ask me in particular, I say, to die and to be cut 
in pieces. But that will only serve to spread this doc- 
trine more widely, which does not come from me, but 
from God. I am but an instrument in His hand ; where- 
fore I am resolved to do battle to the last." 



i 



POPE ALEXANDER VI. AND SAVONAROLA. 245 

The effects of these Lent sermons were of the most 
various description. The partisans of the Frate were 
more enthusiastic in the expression of their devotion 
than ever. On Palm Sunday a great procession was 
formed in celebration of the blessings received during 
Lent ; and Savonarola himself arranged all its details 
with the greatest care, and gave direction as to its order. 
First came the children, then the religious and the 
clergy ; next came the magistrates, then the men ; then, 
a httle distance apart, the women, the aged women being 
first. Those who were unable to join the procession 
were requested to keep off the streets, so as not to in- 
terrupt its progress. All who took part in it were to 
carry a red cross or a branch in their hands, and the 
children were to lead an ass in commemoration of our 
Lord's entrance on that day into Jerusalem. 

The procession started from the church of the Annun- 
ziata and proceeded to San Marco, where each one re- 
ceived a small red cross ; and then they took their way 
across the city. It is said that there were at least eight 
thousand children present. On the Piazza della Signoria 
they sang a hymn composed for the occasion ; then they 
passed on to the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, 
and so returned to San Marco ; and there the brethren, 
crowned with garlands, danced and sang hymns in honor 
of the Most High. 

Savonarola justified these things by quoting the exam- 
ple of King David, who danced before the ark ; but it 
was hardly necessary, in those days and in that country, 
to justify practices which to us seem extraordinary and 
misplaced. The Piagnoni needed no justification, the 
Arrabbiati were little inclined to listen to it. The re- 
ligious enthusiasm of the former was so great that Savo- 



246 SAVONAROLA. 

narola himself had to entreat them to moderate their 
zeal ; but the wrath of his enemies reached its height. 
The Compagnacci, in particular, the younger and more 
dissolute of the Arrabbiati, were driven to frenzy by 
beholding the influence which the Frate was still retain- 
ing over the people. 

But the fame of these sermons extended far beyond 
the city in which they were preached. It is said that 
the Sultan had them translated, that he might be able to 
read them. From all parts of Europe there came testi- 
monies of approval and adherence. On the other hand, 
the princes of Italy began to address remonstrances to 
the man who seemed to include them all in one general 
sweeping condemnation. Foremost among these was 
Lodovico of Milan, who represented to Savonarola his 
inabihty to understand how one whose life was so pure 
and Christian should bring such continual accusations 
against himself, since he might rather find fault with 
Savonarola for teaching that the Pope ought not to be 
obeyed. Savonarola did not hesitate to answer this ap- 
peal with all deference, although he could entertain no 
real respect for the man whom he regarded as the author 
of so much mischief to Italy. 

"It is not true," he replied, " that I have ever said abso- 
lutely that the Pope ought not to be obeyed, because this 
would be very reprehensible, and contrary to those sacred 
canons according to which I have always governed myself. 
And so too it is a false accusation to say that I have 
spoken against your lordship. I am affectionate to all, and 
have no right to speak against any one in particular. But 
if your lordship be turned to God in that mind which you 
declare to be yours, then you have only to persevere ; and 
in this matter you can have no better judge than your own 
conscience." 



POPE ALEXANDER VI. AND SAVONAROLA. 247 

It was comparatively easy to deal with II Moro ; but 
there was a greater Italian potentate, whose anger was 
more to be feared than that of Sforza. The Pope, who 
was kept informed of the matter of Savonarola's preach- 
ing, was loud in his accusations to the Florentine ambas- 
sador, complaining not merely of the Frate, but of the 
Signoria who allowed him to preach. The Ten, after 
endeavoring in vain to soothe his anger, determined 
to send as ambassador extraordinary Pandolfini, the 
Archbishop of Pistoia. On his arrival the Pope poured 
out complaints against the Florentines for refusing to 
join the holy League which had been formed " to drive 
the barbarians " out of Italy ; and then he complained 
bitterly of the support given to Savonarola in his attacks 
upon the Holy See. The archbishop said that the Floren- 
tines could not possibly have violated the treaties which 
they had made with the French j and besides, they were 
aware of the enmity entertained by the Venetians and 
the Duke of Milan against the republic. With regard to 
Savonarola they could hardly be to blame, seeing that his 
Holiness had given him leave to resume his preaching. 
"Well, well," broke in the Pope, "we need not speak of 
Fra Girolamo at present. By and by, perhaps, we shall 
speak better of him. As for the rest, you give me 
nothing but words. You want to have two strings to 
your bow." ■*■ 

In order to ascertain whether there were ostensible 
reasons for proceeding against Savonarola, the Pope 
appointed a consistory of fourteen theologians of the 
Dominican order, to whom he gave instructions to in- 
quire into the conduct and teaching of the Frate, as 

1 Tenere il pie in due staffe, — " To have your foot in two 
stirrups." 



248 SAVONAROLA. 

regarded the charges of heresy, schism, and rebelHon 
against the Holy See. It is said that the majority of the 
consistory pronounced him guilty ; but the principal 
reason which they alleged was his enmity to Piero de' 
Medici, of whose misfortunes he had been the princi- 
pal cause. Tnere could hardly have been a more con- 
vincing proof of the truth of the statement made in 
the sermons of Savonarola, that the true ground of 
the accusations made against him was poUtical, and not 
rehgious. 

It has been mentioned as a proof of the Pope's 
moderation, although there may have been other reasons 
for the course which he took, that he acted no further 
on the report of the theologians than to request the 
Signoria, through their ambassador at Rome, to take 
care that in future Savonarola should be more guarded 
in his remarks on the Holy See, the cardinals, and the 
prelates, and that he should imitate the manner of the 
best preachers, and not intermeddle with the things of 
this world and political affairs- 
After the close of Lent Savonarola spent a short time 
at Prato and Pistoia, where he met his brothers. On 
his return to Florence he put forth a treatise on the 
" Simplicity of the Christian Life," — Delia Semplicita 
della vita Crisiiana, — which was intended as a reply 
to the charges brought against him at Rome, and in 
which he gave a popular account of the Catholic faith, 
stripped of theological technicalities, and rebutted the 
charges of heresy and schism. Along with the Latin 
original an Italian translation was published, with a 
preface in which he repeated his wilHngness to submit 
to the authority of the Roman Church, and declared that 
he preached and wrote with the sole intention of com- 



POPE ALEXANDER VI. AND SAVONAROLA. 249 

bating the unbelief of the times, which chilled the spirit 
of love and darkened the light of good works. 

About this time — we are still in the year 1496 — new 
troubles arose in Florence. The commerce of the city 
had been greatly depressed by the unsettled state of Italy 
and of the republic ; great expenses had been entailed 
by the exactions of the French and the preparations for 
war ; and a grievous famine deprived the peasants round 
about the city of their means of subsistence. The 
Venetians and Lodovico were assisting the Pisans, who, 
instead of yielding to the assaults of the Florentines, 
striving to recover their most prized possession, drove 
back the soldiers of the republic into the hills. These 
misfortunes were followed by one still greater, — the death 
of Piero Capponi, which took place in the September of 
this year. He was killed by a ball while conducting the 
siege of the castle of Soiana. There was no citizen of 
whom Florence was more proud than of him who had 
cast back on the king of France, when he threatened to 
blow his trumpets, the counter-threat to ring the bells of 
the city. The grief was universal ; and all united to do 
honor to the obsequies of so great a man. He was 
buried in the church of Santo Spirito, in the tomb 
which had been made for his renowned ancestor, Gino 
Capponi.-"- 

Other misfortunes followed. The League took ad- 
vantage of the difficulties of the republic to press upon 
its rulers to abandon the alliance with France, and to 
make common cause with themselves. In this case they 
would assist them to recover Pisa ; otherwise they would 

1 The last descendant of this great family was the Marchese 
Gino Capponi, recently deceased, author of the History of Flo- 
rence, more than once quoted in these pages. 



250 SA VONAROLA. 

give assistance to the revolted city. The Arrabbiati 
were all in favor of these proposals ; but the citizens 
discerned in them a plot for the overthrow of their 
liberty, and refused to comply. Besides, the king of 
France had announced his intention of returning to 
Italy, and this expectation confirmed them in their 
resolution. 

The League then applied to the Emperor Maximilian 
for assistance in opposing the threatened invasion of the 
French ; but King Charles had his hands full at home, 
and abandoned the enterprise. The Emperor, however, 
determined to visit Italy, which was in theory, at least, still 
the centre of the Empire. Crossing the Alps, he avoided 
Milan and descended upon Genoa, when he passed on 
to Spezia, and made his way to Pisa. The inhabitants 
received him with the same joyful welcome which they 
had accorded to the French. He had come among 
them as the friend of the League, and therefore as the 
enemy of their tyrannical mistress, Florence. 

The Florentines, seeing the preparations which were 
being made by the Pope, the Milanese, and the Vene- 
tians, now headed by the Emperor himself, instead of 
abandoning themselves to despair, proceeded to fortify 
Leghorn, which the French had restored to them, and 
which now became the key of Tuscany. As was usual 
in their time of difficulty, the magistrates had recourse 
to Savonarola, who did not hesitate to obey the call, and 
again appeared before the people, urging them to unity 
and to courage in the defence of their liberties. 

The most dangerous and the most vindictive of the 
enemies of Florence was the Pope. He hated the city 
and its freedom, and resolved to restore the Medici, 
whom he hoped to keep in subjection to his own will. 



POPE ALEXANDER VI. AND SAVONAROLA. 25 1 

Above all, he hated the man who was the soul of the 
republic and the bulwark of its liberties. If the armies 
of the League could not demolish the walls of Florence, 
he could strike at the man who alone seemed able to 
inspire its defenders with courage and resolution. He 
therefore determined to use every means to prevent 
him from again appearing in the pulpit. On the 8th 
of September ^ he despatched a new brief from Rome, 
addressed to the convent of St. Mark, in which he de- 
scribed Savonarola in the same terms as those which he 
used in his letter to the friars of Santa Croce the year 
before. Again he was described as " a certain Fra Giro- 
lamo, a friend of novelty and a disseminator of false 
doctrine." He told them that this friar had advanced 
to such a pitch of madness that he had made the people 
beheve that he was sent by God and had converse 
with him ; and this without any miraculous proof or any 
special testimony of the Holy Scriptures, such as the 
canon law required. He then spoke of the patience 
which he had exercised towards Savonarola, in the 
hope that he would repent, and desist from continuing 
that scandalous separation from the congregation of 
Lombardy which he had been deceived into sanctioning. 
He then required that the brethren of St. Mark and 
their vicar should recognize the authority of Fra Sebas- 
tiano de Madiis, Vicar-General of Lombardy ; command- 
ing Savonarola to prepare to go where he should be 
ordered, and in the mean time to desist from all preaching 
whatever, either public or private. The convent of St. 
Mark was to be at once reunited to the congregation of 
Lombardy, and Fra Domenico, Fra Salvestro, and Fra 

1 See, in Vilari, the reasons for assigning this date to the brief 
here described, lib. iii. c. 5. 



252 SAVONAROLA. 

Tommaso Bussino were to present themselves in nine days 
at Bologna. And all this under pain of excommunication. 

It was quite clear to Savonarola that these orders 
could not be obeyed ; but he determined to try what 
could be done by submission. He addressed a respect- 
ful letter to the Pope, dated the 29th of September, 
about the time that Capponi was being laid in the tomb 
of his ancestor. He reiterated his willingness to submit 
to the Church, saying that his enemies had deceived 
his Holiness. He denied that he had claimed to be a 
prophet, as he had denied it nearly two years before, as 
he was to deny it again in some yet more solemn hours 
of his life. Even if he had put forth this claim, he 
said, it would not be heresy ; but he had only predicted 
certain events, some of which had taken place, and 
others would in the future. He then reminded the Pope 
that the bull of separation had been solicited by all the 
brothers, and had been granted after a lengthened dis- 
cussion. To refer their cause to the Vicar of Lombardy 
was to make their adversary their judge. Besides, since 
the separation, their rules had been made more strict 
and severe, and therefore to reunite them would be to 
increase the enmity already existing, and to give rise to 
great dissensions and scandals. There was no reason 
for this reunion, since he was not guilty of the offences 
alleged as rendering it necessary, seeing that he preached 
the doctrine of the Church and of the holy doctors ; and 
he repeated anew what he had always said, that he 
submitted himself and' all his doctrines to the correction 
of the Holy Roman Church. 

The Holy Father saw that by going too far he might 
fail in the main object of his brief, which was to prevent 
Savonarola from preaching. He therefore appeared to 



POPE ALEXANDER VI. AND SAVONAROLA. 253 

lay aside bis resentment, and on the i6th of October he 
despatched another brief addressed to Savonarola. The 
Frate was again his "beloved son." He begins by re- 
ferring to the mischief caused by his preaching and his 
pretensions to prophecy. Still, he was greatly rejoiced 
to learn from brethren who were cardinals of the Church, 
and from his own letters and messengers, that he was 
prepared to submit himself to the judgment of the Holy 
Roman Church. " We have begun to persuade our- 
selves that thou hast not preached these things from an 
evil mind, but rather from a kind of simplicity and a 
zeal for laboring in the vineyard of the Lord, although 
experience may seem to teach the contrary." But for all 
this, he adds, he must not be so negligent as to dismiss 
the matter entirely, and therefore he commands him, 
"in virtue of holy obedience, further to abstain entirely 
from all preaching, both in public and in secret." 

Savonarola was not in the least deceived by this 
fatherly forbearance, knowing very well that the Pope 
was, by a different path, trying to reach the same end, 
and prevent his preaching at a time when his voice was 
most needed by the citizens. Besides, he learned from 
the ambassador that the Pope was more enraged than 
ever against him ; and he knew that he was acting in 
concert with the Emperor and II Moro. He was con- 
vinced that an attempt would be made, as soon as there 
appeared any hope of success, to effect the restoration 
of Piero de' Medici. Yet the tone of the Pope's brief 
had placed him in a difficulty. To defy a command 
addressed in a spirit so benignant might bring worse evils 
upon himself and the city ; and therefore he determined 
for a season, at least, to refrain from preaching. 

In the mean time fresh clouds seemed to be gather- 



254 SAVONAROLA. 

ing around the fortunes of the republic. Leghorn 
was besieged by the imperial troops ; the Venetian 
ships blockaded the port, so the provisions could 
not be brought into the city ; and famine and pesti- 
lence were making terrible ravages among the inhabi- 
tants. The Florentines made the most heroic efforts 
to reheve the suffering city, but the pestilence began 
to ravage their own homes. The misery of the city 
was extreme. The Arrabbiati were triumphant ; now 
they were clear that the Frate had deceived them. 
This was the happiness he had promised to Florence ! 
Surely it was time to change a government which had 
succeeded so badly. 

The magistrates in this extremity had recourse to 
the divine offices. They ordered that a miraculous 
image of the Madonna, to which they had frequent 
recourse in times of danger, should be carried in 
solemn procession through the city. Again they 
turned to the only man who had been able to help 
them in former times of perplexity, and entreated 
Savonarola to speak to the multitude. It needs not 
to be told how his compassionate heart had bled for 
the miseries of the people whom, with all their faults, 
he so dearly loved. Whatever might be his fate, he 
could not resist the appeal which was now addressed 
to him. 

On the 28th of October he was again in the pulpit. 
Friends and foes were gathered around him. He 
knew what was passing in many minds, and he at once 
addressed himself to the unuttered thought. 

" I ought not to have spoken ? But I come in obedi- 
ence to the Signoria, and to call you once more to re- 
pentance. You are clear? And I tell you that I am 



POPE ALEXANDER VI. AND SAVONAROLA. 255 

clear, and that everything I have said to you will be 
verified to the smallest iota. ... Be ye then clear that, 
unless you change your life, you will have woes. Vices 
still prevail among you, O Florence, — gambling, bestiality, 
— and in this way you draw down the scourge upon you. 
Yet if you return to the Lord, I am confident that some 
great grace will be bestowed upon us, and we shall have 
need to fear no one." 

He then rebuked them for putting their trust in 
man, and told them that, first of all, they must return 
to God ; then they must put away all thoughts of 
human help ; all the money they could spare they 
must lend to the city, and without interest ; they must 
be united and have no dissensions. If they would do 
this, "listen," he said, " to the words that I say to you : 
I am willing to lose my head, if we do not drive away 
our enemies. I say that, if you do this, I will be the 
first to go forth against them, crucifix in hand, and 
we will make our enemies flee as far as Pisa, and 
further." Two days later, the miraculous image was 
carried into Florence in solemn procession., An 
enormous multitude followed, showing every evidence 
of the deepest devotion. Sadness was on every coun- 
tenance. Money was freely given as the Frate had 
required. The procession had reached Por Santa 
Maria, when a messenger arrived on horseback with 
an olive-branch in his hand, on his way to the Palazzo. 
Caught by the bridle, he was required by the multitude 
to deliver his message. His news were almost in- 
credible. The promised succor had arrived from 
Marseilles, and had been wafted by a favorable wind 
into the harbor of Leghorn, before the Venetian ships 
were able to come up. Joy sat on every countenance, 



256 SAVONAROLA. 

which but now had been clouded with sorrow. The 
intelligence flew from mouth to mouth. The bells 
rang out peals of gladness ; the churches, which had 
but recently been filled with multitudes humbling 
themselves in penitence, were now crowded with the 
same multitudes pouring forth their joy and gratitude. 
Even the most embittered enemies of Savonarola were 
silenced. They were almost ready to confess that, 
for once at least, his predictions had been verified. 

Two days later, on the festival of All Saints, 
Savonarola preached again, exhorting the people to 
gratitude. Surely the mercy of God must lead them 
to repentance and amendment. Surely they would 
now put their trust in God alone. At the same time 
he warned them against the transports of joy to which 
they were abandoning themselves. They ought not, 
he said, to be so easily overcome by joy and by 
sorrow. The next day. All Souls' Day (" the diiy of 
the dead "), he preached on the way to die well, and 
produced a deep impression on his hearers. He 
then desisted again from preaching. He had obeyed 
the call of duty ; but he would not further give his 
enemies occasion to censure him for disobedience. 

The Pope did not delay for a moment to take 
further action against the man who was resolved ever 
to cross his designs. On the 7th of November a new 
brief was issued, addressed to all the Dominicans of 
Tuscany. Instead of reuniting them to the congrega- 
tion of Lombardy, the Pope now proposed to form a 
new Tusco-Roman congregation, with a vicar of its 
own who should be elected every two years by the 
various priors of the new congregation, without, how- 
ever, derogating from the authority of the Vicar- 



POPE ALEXANDER VI. AND SAVONAROLA. 257 

General at Rome. For the first two years the Pope 
would himself nominate the Cardinal of Naples, who 
had always been friendly to St. Mark's and its prior. 
The Pope had outdone himself in the astuteness of his 
policy. He had heard Savonarola's remonstrances ; he 
would not unite the hostile congregations. He would 
give them a vicar who was a known friend of their 
own. But there was something beyond all this. Such 
a scheme would annihilate the independence of 
St. Mark's, and render Savonarola dependent upon 
the new vicar, who might after two years be the crea- 
ture of his adversaries. 

In this emergency Savonarola again put forth a 
protest, not this time addressed to the Pope, but to the 
public at large. In this pamphlet, entitled " An Apology 
for the Congregation of St. Mark," he declared that the 
proposed union was "impossible, unreasonable, in- 
jurious." The brothers of St. Mark should not be 
obliged to accept it. The order had been obtained by 
false accusations, and therefore it became a duty to 
resist a command which was contrary to charity. " When 
the conscience rejects a command received from one's 
superiors, it is necessary first to resist and humbly to 
correct the error ; but if that does not suffice, it is then 
necessary to do as Saint Paul did, who ' withstood Peter 
to the face before them all.'" There could be no 
uncertainty as to the meaning of those words. The 
immediate dangers which had threatened Leghorn now 
passed away. The Emperor abandoned his under- 
taking against Florence and returned to Germany, com- 
plaining bitterly of the untrustworthiness of his allies. 
Savonarola, apparently abandoning all hope of a recon- 
ciliation with the Pope, again ascended the pulpit on 
17 



258 SAVONAROLA. 

the 26th of November, reminding his hearers of the 
dangers through which they had passed, and of the 
debt of gratitude which they owed to their Divine 
deUverer ; showing also the blessings of the government 
which they enjoyed. 

He now commenced his sermons on the prophet 
Ezekiel, eight of which were preached in this Advent, 
the remainder in the following Lent of 1497. In a 
prayer uttered in the course of his first sermon, he de- 
clared his purpose in preaching. " O Lord," he said, 
" I ask of Thee a life of adversities. I begin again to 
preach this morning, only to repeat that which I have 
already said, and to confirm it anew ; and I am willing 
here to lay down my life." Turning to the people, he 
said, " If I depart from this, say that this brother con- 
tradicts God and lies in his throat, and stone me and 
cast me out of this pulpit." 

In this strain he continued throughout the season of 
Advent, repeating the lessons of religion and politics 
which he had so often inculcated before. The year 
ended with increased power and popularity to the Frate, 
but also with multiplied dangers. Henceforth the 
struggle with the Pope was to be looked upon as un- 
ending. Did the Frate hope that the wished-for council 
might meet, and Alexander be deposed, and a better 
take his place, and the Church be renovated? It may 
be so. But it is equally certain that he saw clearly 
enough the other alternative j and the prospect of a 
violent death was now seldom absent from his mind. 



THE BURNING OF THE "VANITIES.'' 259 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE BURNING OF THE " VANITIES." 

In his recent conflict with the Pope, Savonarola had 
received his chief support from the Ten, although it is 
apparent that the Signoria had not been hostile to him, 
and had not failed to use his influence with the people 
when the necessities of the republic seemed to require 
it. It was an evidence of the position which he now 
held among the citizens, obtained by his labors and the 
effect produced by the marvellous relief of Leghorn, 
that in the beginning of the year 1497 a Signoria de- 
voted to his interest was elected, and Francesco Valori 
was appointed gotifaloniere. 

This is that Francesco Valori of whom we have heard 
as at first a supporter of the Medici, and one of the five 
citizens sent by Lorenzo to restrain the Frate in his style 
of preaching, — the same who afterwards became one 
of the foremost opponents of the dominant family when 
they were driven from Florence, and one of the most 
faithful and attached friends of Savonarola. He was a 
man of undoubted courage ; and if his discretion had 
equalled his bravery, he might have used this opportu- 
nity to repress the dissensions which were rending the 
city. 

Savonarola suggested that the constitution of the 
greater council should be so modified as to exclude those 



26o SAVONAROLA. 

who plotted against the republic. Valori thought the 
best manner of guarding against such danger was to 
secure a larger representation of the people ; and for 
this purpose he reduced the age at which those other- 
wise qualified for election might be admitted into the 
council, from thirty to twenty-four. His object was, of 
course, to counteract the influence of the aristocratic 
party, who were the most dangerous enemies of the 
constitution ; but the actual effect of the measure was to 
introduce the younger members of the Arrabbiati, who 
have already been mentioned as the most violently 
opposed to the teaching and the policy of Savonarola. 

There can be little doubt, in these days, that the great 
mistake which was made by Savonarola was the attempt 
to repress every kind of immorality, and those amuse- 
ments which he regarded as productive of immorality, 
by physical force and by the arm of the law. It would 
be utterly false to describe him as of a persecuting or 
intolerant spirit ; but the horror inspired in his mind, 
from his earliest years, by the frightful immorality which 
he saw prevailing everywhere, led him to imagine that 
only the strongest measures could be effective and 
successful. 

In his opinions on these subjects he was neither 
better nor worse than his best contemporaries. At that 
time, and for long afterwards, it was thought right and 
expedient to repress by law whatever was regarded as 
hurtful to the community. On this ground heresy was 
punished, and customs which seemed in any way dan- 
gerous to the social, the moral, or the religious interests 
of a country. Those who suffered from what they re- 
garded as persecution were themselves ready to persecute 
when their turn arrived to wield the power of the sword. 



THE BURNING OF THE •' VANITIES." 26 1 

In the English Puritan revolution these principles were 
the source of the unity and strength of the party which 
then came into power. They were resolved to set up 
the kingdom of God upon earth, and they carried out 
their resolution with the Word in their mouths and a 
two-edged sword in their hands. Their enemies can 
hardly deny that this was their original intention, how- 
ever they may accuse them of a growing lust of power, 
of unreality and hypocrisy. In a world Hke this, and with 
creatures like ourselves, such efforts must fail. We have 
now discovered that it must be so. We have learned 
that to paralyse personal liberty, beyond what is required 
for the protection of others, is to induce evils far greater 
than any which we are able to repress. To put a stop to 
all amusements is to drive those who will have them to 
deception, and is very likely to engender vices as base, 
because more morbid, than those which are exterminated. 
We have learned that, to a great extent, we must leave it 
to the individual conscience to decide whether an amuse- 
ment is innocent or hurtful. That Savonarola did not 
grasp these principles was nothing wonderful or discredit- 
able ; they did not belong to his time. Holding that vice 
should not be tolerated, and holding this conviction in a 
most vicious age, he went to war with the overwhelming 
majority of his countrymen. It was clear to himself 
that they must be converted, or he must perish. He 
would not, he could not, abandon his design ; and he 
saw with ever-increasing clearness, with ever-deepening 
sorrow, what the end must be. 

The prohibition of balls and festivals enraged the 
younger members of the Arrabbiati beyond all power of 
self-control. To them life without pleasure was insup- 
portable, and the Frate was resolved that they should not 



262 SAVONAROLA. 

have their pleasures in their own evil way. In order to 
carry on the contest with greater unity and vigor, they 
formed themselves into companies, and placed at their 
head one of their own number named Dolfo or Doffo 
Spini. These companies went about armed, and com- 
mitted assaults on the Piagnoni as they had opportunity. 
From their organization they were called Compagnacd. 
Many of these young men, who had had only an in- 
direct influence on the government, now became mem- 
bers of the greater council, and consequently more 
dangerous than ever. 

About the beginning of this year Savonarola was 
anxiously occupied in preparing for publication that 
which was perhaps his most famous composition, " The 
Triumph of the Cross." In this way he was withdrawn 
from his more active labors among those who were under 
his spiritual guidance. His deputy at such times, 
whether in the pulpit or as an administrator of the affairs 
of the convent, was ordinarily Fra Domenico. This 
brother had preached in his place when the strife with 
Rome had first begun. It is said that he was but a 
feeble echo of his great master ; but he was a true echo, 
and a faithful and devoted friend. He had the most 
unswerving faith in his superior. He knew him for a 
man of God, a man who lived above this world, its cares 
and its interests. He saw how deeply he was himself 
penetrated by those convictions to which he gave such 
eloquent and powerful utterance. He went beyond his 
master in thinking that he was endowed with miraculous 
powers, as well as with prophetic gifts. If he was too 
credulous, this fault may easily be forgiven when his 
sublime devotion is remembered, — a devotion which 
became touching and heroic at the end. 



THE BURNING OF THE " VANITIES:' 263 

As the time of the Carnival drew near, it became 
clear that the Compagnacci were determined that it 
should be celebrated as in the days of the Medici. 
The songs of Lorenzo should be sung, the indecent 
dances should be danced, the games should be re- 
sumed, and everything, down to the most irrational 
of their old practices,^ should be as it had been before 
the Piagnoni had interrupted their pleasures. To 
Frk Domenico had been given the training of the 
children who had played a part so important in the 
previous Carnival. When he knew of the preparations 
of the Compagnacci, he determined to meet them with 
preparations of his own. Day after day he drilled his 
youthful bands, preached sermons to them, and wrote 
them letters. By means of new laws, passed by the 
friendly Signoria, he carried out the reforms which 
Savonarola had commenced in the preceding year. 

It was determined to make an onslaught more 
thorough and sweeping on the luxurious and lascivious 
manners and customs of the people, and especially of 
the women. The children scoured the town, and 
knocking at the doors of the rich, asked to have given 
up to them the things which they had been taught to 
designate as vanities {vanita) or anathema. Every- 
thing which ministered to luxury, everything which 
tended to immorality, was to be given up, — masks, 
dresses with immodest iigures upon them, musical 
instruments, books containing indecent or immoral 
tales. It was determined, by a solemn and public 
auto-da-fe, to declare before the world that Christ was 

1 Such as the throwing of stones by the children of the city, 
— one of those absurd and dangerous practices which Savo- 
narola had stopped when he organized his bands of children. 



264 SAVONAROLA. 

King of Florence, and these things should not be 
allowed to defile His kingdom. 

To whatever extent the will of Savonarola may 
have have been resisted during the Carnival, all were 
prepared, when its last day arrived, February 7th, 
to think of nothing but the religious festival which 
was being prepared. Burlamacchi gives a detailed 
account of the proceedings of the day. In the morn- 
ing multitudes of men and women received the com- 
munion from the hand of Savonarola. At two o'clock 
they came together and formed a solemn procession, 
which was to traverse the streets, finishing at the Piazza 
della Signoria, where the great event of the day was to 
take place. Here is Burlamacchi's description of the 
scene : — 

" In the procession the boys carried a bambino [he 
says it was devotissimo\, full of splendor, which gave the 
benediction with the right hand, and with the left held 
out the crown of thorns, the nails, and the cross; it was 
of stupendous beauty, being the work of that most rare 
sculptor Donatello. This was supported by four most 
beautiful angels upon a portable altar, very rich and wonder- 
fully adorned, and over it a most beautiful baldacchino was 
supported by twelve children. Around these were other 
children, who sang psalms and hymns with sweetest 
melody. Before went the other children, walking two and 
two in order. Behind came the guardians with their 
officials, men who bore silver vessels to receive alms for 
the poor of St. Martin, who received more in that day 
than they ordinarily did in a whole year. Behind these 
came the men with small red crosses in their hands. 
Last of all came the girls and all the other women." 

They took their way first to the Duomo, where 
they sang "the most beautiful lauds," and all the 



THE BURNING OP THE " VANITIES." 265 

people made an offering of Florence to the Queen of 
Heaven. They then proceeded to the Piazza, where 
complete preparations had been made for the work 
they had in hand. A huge bonfire had been erected 
in the centre of the square, in the shape of an eight- 
sided pyramid, which rose to the height of thirty 
braccia, or sixty feet, and measured at its base one 
hundred and twenty braccia, or two hundred and forty 
feet. Each side had fifteen steps, upon which were 
deposited all the vanitd, collected during the Carnival ; 
and a huge image surmounted the pyramid, which was 
filled with inflammable materials. Each of the eight 
sides had objects arranged with some attempt at 
classification. On the first were dresses with immodest 
figures ; on the second, pictures of the beauties of 
Florence ; on another, chess-boards and cards ; on 
another, music, harps, lutes, guitars ; on another, the 
vanita worn by women, — false hair, phials, looking- 
glasses, perfumes ; on another, lascivious books written 
by Latin and Italian poets, among them Boccaccio and 
others ; on another, masks, beards, and other orna- 
ments used in the Carnival ; finally, pictures and 
sculptures in ivory and alabaster. 

The Piazza was crowded with people, and the 
children were arranged on the Ringhiera and under 
the Loggia dei Lanzi, where they kept singing re- 
ligious songs and denouncing the Carnival. At a 
signal given, the four guardians set fire to four corners 
of the pyramid, the smoke and flames leapt up into 
the air, the trumpeters of the Signoria blew a blast, 
the bells of the Palazzo rang out, and the multitude 
raised a shout of rejoicing. 

We can imagine that these transactions were regarded 



266 SA VONAROLA. 

with very diiferent emotions by the onlookers. Doubt- 
less there were many who heartily participated in the 
religious enthusiasm which had been evoked by Savona- 
rola, — many who now, as in the former Carnival, freely 
gave up useless ornaments to be disposed of for the 
benefit of the poor ; many, too, who burned " with sacred 
rage " those things which, in their past life, had minis- 
tered to their lusts. But there were others who regarded 
the scene with very different feehngs, — some who had 
parted with their vanities from fear of those terrible chil- 
dren who went in bands to execute the will of the Frate ; 
some, probably, who had utterly refused to give them 
up. To very many these young tyrants must have ap- 
peared in the light of a simple nuisance. Burlamacchi 
relates, with a gravity bordering upon the ludicrous, 
that " notwithstanding, these good children endured a 
most cruel persecution from ill-disposed and lukewarm 
men, which they bore with great serenity of mind, and 
with so much joy that they filled every one with as- 
tonishment, and seemed nothing less than angels of 
Paradise." 

It is impossible to form a judgment on an event which 
happened in times so different from our own and in a 
season of such intense religious excitement. Those who 
consider all the circumstances 'and the customs of the 
people among whom it took place will probably experi- 
ence no great astonishment. If we could enter more 
fully into the feelings of that day we might be led to 
understand that it was a spectacle in no small degree 
calculated to produce a wholesome effect upon those by 
whom it was witnessed. The greatest danger was, per- 
haps, that it might be drawn into a precedent ; and we 
shall see that a similar " burning " took place at the next 



THE BURNING OF THE " VANITIES." 267 

Carnival. It is a remarkable fact, however, that none 
of the contemporaries of Savonarola should have brought 
this forward among the offences charged against him. 

The demonstration has not fared so well at the hands 
of more recent writers. Savonarola has been denounced 
as a Vandal, a barbarian who had destroyed antiquities 
and curiosities of priceless value ; he has been repre- 
sented as an ignorant and blinded fanatic, who looked 
upon literature and art with contempt and detestation. 

It is very possible — it is indeed probable — that Bur- 
lamacchi, who looks back upon these days with all the 
dehght of an ascetic, with all the satisfaction of a reli- 
gious who knew that his own order had made a holo- 
caust of the vanities of the age, was guilty of unconscious 
exaggeration. For instance, he represents the number 
of children present as being nearly equal to the whole 
population of Florence. He speaks of a Venetian mer- 
chant as offering an incredible sum of money for the 
vanita which were consumed in the fire. But there is 
no doubt that there was a considerable destruction of 
costly dresses, ornaments, and books ; and in judging 
Savonarola we must have regard to his motives and to 
the state of the society to which he belonged. 

If the auto-da-fe had been meant as a condemnation 
of all poetry, the Frate might plead that he had at least 
the favorite author of the new literary school on his side ; 
for Plato could find no place for poets in his ideal re- 
public. But there is no foundation for such a charge. 
From his youth he had himself written hymns and 
poems, and had procured hymns to be composed for 
the Carnival, to be sung in place of the old lascivious 
songs. 

If it be charged against -him that he caused to be 



268 SAVONAROLA. 

burned the works of Boccaccio, one of the most elegant 
of Itah'an prose writers, we need not urge the somewhat 
unfavorable literary judgment pronounced on Boccaccio 
by the late Gino Capponi. It is certain that Savonarola, 
in this case, thought Httle of the literary merits or de- 
merits of the books which he prepared for the flames. 
It may be more to the point to ask whether his accusers 
would like to have Boccaccio as the favorite author in 
the libraries of their daughters, or whether they would 
tolerate the reading of the Decamerone in their families- 
It is said that it was one of the favorite books of the 
nuns at this period ; and it is not to be believed that 
it tended to improve the moral purity of the convents. 
Savonarola was often wellnigh maddened by the thought 
of the foul and bestial streams of sensuality which were 
flowing through this fair city, almost under his eyes ; and 
the burning of every indecent volume in the world would 
have seemed to him a small price to pay for the salva- 
tion of one human soul, for the rescuing of some of those 
little ones whom he was striving to protect from the evil 
that was in the world, from the moral contamination 
which was prevailing everywhere, and which it seemed 
almost impossible to escape. Was Savonarola the only 
reformer who ever burned indecent books? History 
tells us of some who burned heretical men. To our- 
selves it may seem unwise and impolitic to make this 
display of our condemnation ; but there are others, and 
those men not destitute of learning and piety, who think 
such an exhibition may be edifying. Little more than 
a generation has elapsed since a book directed against 
divine revelation was burned in the hall of a college in 
one of our great universities, and this in the middle of 
the nineteenth century ; but what danger has existed in 



THE BURNING OP THE " VANITIES." 269 

the Oxford of these days which could for a moment be 
compared with the condition of Florence at the end of 
the fifteenth century? 

An interesting proof was given this very year that 
Savonarola was not to be classed with the fanatic who 
burned the Alexandrian library, on the principle that it 
could be of no value because all that was good in it 
must be contained in the Koran, and that which was 
contrary to the Mahometan Bible must be mischievous. 
In consequence of the financial straits of the republic, 
it became necessary to dispose of the library of the Me- 
dici, which had become the property of the State when 
the family had been declared rebels and their goods 
confiscated. There was great danger that this magnifi- 
cent collection of books would now be dispersed. Such 
a loss would have been irreparable ; there was no library 
in Europe which at that time contained so complete a 
collection of Greek and Latin classics. It happened 
that the convent of St. Mark's could then command a 
considerable sum of money, in consequence of the sale 
of all unnecessary property which Savonarola had recom- 
mended. They agreed to pay two thousand florins at 
once, and to be responsible for an additional sum of one 
thousand ; and thus they secured to Florence that Bib- 
lioteca Laureriziana which is to this day one of its prin- 
cipal glories. And this was the work of a man who has 
been represented to be an ignorant fanatic, the enemy 
of Hterature and art ; and the transaction took place in 
the very year which witnessed the bruciamento delle 
vanita ! 

The defence of Savonarola from the charge of 
despising the arts of painting and sculpture is no 
less easy. If he set his face against the prostitution 



270 SAVONAROLA. 

of these arts, it is equally certain that he desired to 
see them consecrated to the service of morality and 
religion. To speak of Savonarola as a mere ignorant 
iconoclast is to ignore the clearest evidence to the 
contrary. The walls of St. Mark at this very day are 
adorned with the same sacred pictures upon which the 
eyes of its greatest prior must have rested. Instead 
of being the enemy of art, he was the friend, the patron, 
the guide of artists. One of his dearest friends was 
the great painter known as Fra Bartolommeo, a member 
of his own convent. Lorenzo di Credi, according to 
Vasari, was a "partisan of the sect of Fr^ Girolamo." 
Michael Angelo, who long afterwards took part in the 
same struggle for freedom in which Savonarola was so 
prominent, was one of his hearers in his youth, and 
in his old age took pleasure in reading his sermons 
and other writings. Vasari, who was not a contem- 
porary, and who is not always to be depended upon 
when he relates the events of his own age, records 
that Fra Bartolommeo, or Baccio della Porta, as he 
was commonly called, burned some of his own pictures 
among the vatiita. If this were so, we may be assured 
that he acted on grounds which satisfied his own 
conscience. One proof of his lasting attachment to 
his master is the well-known fact that for four years 
after his death he entirely abstained from painting. 

So far was Savonarola from making an indiscriminate 
attack on hterature and art that he actually taught and 
wrote on the subject of poetry and of painting. But 
while he defended poetry and demonstrated its utility, 
he declared that there was in his own time " a false 
kind of pretended poets, who did nothing but follow 
in the footsteps of the Greeks and Romans, using 



THR BURNING OF THE ''VANITIES:^ 27 1 

the same forms, the same metre, and invoking the 
same gods, — nay, more, finding it impossible to use 
any other names or words than those which were 
sanctioned by the ancients. But he did not, for this 
or any other reason, include all the poets of Greece 
and Rome under one sweeping condemnation. He 
says that some of them condemned base actions and 
exalted those which were generous and brave. " These," 
he says, " have made a good use of poetry, and I 
neither can nor ought to condemn them." 

So far was he from depreciating the beautiful in 
nature and art that he took pains to explain its true 
character, and declared that it was a kind of reflection 
of the beauty of the Maker of all. A holy soul, he 
said, actually participated in the beauty of God, and 
diffused His celestial beauty throughout the body. But 
he had little toleration for the delight in mere material 
beauty, and in the endeavor to increase it without 
regard to that higher spiritual beauty which was the 
true glory of man and of woman. He told them that 
women who gloried in their ornaments, their hair, and 
their hands, were simply void of reason ibrutte). If 
they would see true beauty, they must look upon a 
face that was purified by devotion and prayer. That 
would be a reflection of the beauty of God Himself, 
— a countenance that would be almost angelic. 

From these principles he took occasion to con- 
demn many painters who made sacred subjects a mere 
vehicle for the display of dresses and ornaments, and, 
still worse, took for their models those who were 
distinguished for mere physical beauty, and in some 
cases those who were notorious for their evil life, 
instead of trying to represent countenances of elevated 



2 72 SAVONAROLA. 

and spiritual loveliness, such as might raise the thoughts 
of the beholders to better things. " Painters," he 
exclaimed, " in this you do wrong ; and if you knew, 
as I do, the scandal that results from it, you certainly 
would not do it." Such things were a public injury. 
"You bring all the 'vanities' into the churches," he 
exclaims. " Do you think that the Virgin Mary should 
be depicted in the manner in which you paint her? I 
tell you that she went attired like a poor, humble 
woman." 

In the Lent which followed the Carnival of 1497 
and the duto-da-fe on the Piazza, Savonarola com- 
pleted the course of sermons on Ezekiel which he 
had begun in the previous Advent. In these ser- 
mons his favorite topics were prominent, — the need 
of love and unity and holiness, the evils of luxury 
and self-indulgence. But throughout the whole course 
there was evidence of the expectation of a new struggle 
with Rome. It came at first in a form for which he 
was not quite prepared, except that he was always 
expecting to hear of the plots of the Medici ; and when 
this danger passed away, he found himself confronted 
by another, — the deadly enmity of the Supreme Pontiff, 
which led to one last conflict; a conflict that was to 
end only when the man who was its object had passed 
beyond the bounds of earthly strife. 



TEEASON. 273 



CHAPTER XVI. 

TREASON. 

After the failure of his attempt upon Florence in 
the autumn of 1496, Piero de' Medici had returned to 
Rome, determined to wait his time and to watch for 
such changes in the affairs of the republic as might 
seem favorable to his hopes. His life at Rome was of 
the most scandalous description, — too scandalous, in 
fact, to be described. Rioting, drunkenness, gambling, 
sins of the flesh which cannot be named, consumed his 
nights ; and half of the day was spent in sleeping off 
last night's debauch. His wastefulness and extravagance 
plunged him in debt, from which the generosity of his 
brother the cardinal was insufficient to preserve him. 
There was hardly a vice with which he was not familiar. 
He was destitute even of the virtue of tyrants, — gratitude 
to the agents of their tyranny. Men who devoted them- 
selves to his interests were used, and cast away when 
they seemed likely to be troublesome. Some of them 
were despatched with poison or the dagger. But amid 
all his recklessness and self-indulgence, he deeply cher- 
ished the design of returning to Florence, and nursed a 
most bitter enmity to its inhabitants. One of his hap- 
piest meditations was the thought of the vengeance he 
should wreak on the men whom he considered the 
authors of his misfortunes. The work of reprisals exe- 

18 



2 74 SAVONAROLA. 

cuted by his ancestors upon their enemies in former 
days should be outdone by himself. The exiles and 
confiscations which followed the restoration of Cosimo 
after his expulsion by the Albizzi, the deaths which were 
inflicted after the conspiracy of the Pazzi, were to be a 
mere trifle to what he would do when his turn came. 
He would take effectual means to prevent another ex- 
pulsion from Florence. He did not even pretend to 
have the slightest regard for the interests of the city. 
When he was told that he could govern very well with 
a council of twenty or thirty citizens, he replied that 
he wanted no council at all ; he would prefer to rule 
badly by his own counsel than well by that of others. 
Trusting to the support which would be afforded to him 
by the princes of Italy, to the large party still attached 
to his family in Florence, and to the chance of dissen- 
sions and divisions among the citizens, he was resolved, 
when the fit time should arrive, to force his entrance by 
the power of arms. 

Circumstances arose sooner than he could have ex- 
pected to give reality to his hopes. The two months 
during which the Signoria, elected in January, 1497, held 
office were coming to an end. Francesco Valori and 
his fellow-magistrates had attempted too much, and had 
chilled the ardor of some of their supporters. The 
quarrels and contests between the Arrabbiati and the 
Piagnoni had given the £igi, the Medicean party, an 
opportunity of carrying on their secret plottings and 
maturing their plans. Some of the Arrabbiati, despair- 
ing of being able to carry out their own designs, began 
to make common cause with the Bigi as the only means 
of destroying the influence of the Piagnoni. Frk Mari- 
ano da Gennazzano, the ancient enemy of Savonarola, 



treason: 275 

again appears on the scene. While at Rome he lost no 
opportunity of keeping alive the exasperated feelings of 
the Pope ; and now he suddenly presented himself in 
Florence. 

At the beginning of March a new Signoria was elected, 
by whom Bernardo del Nero, a citizen of reputation and 
eminence, but a devoted adherent of the Medici, was 
chosen gonfaloniere. The Bigi had for some time acted 
as a party in the great council, standing aloof from the 
Piagnoni, with whom they had professed to co-operate. 
By degrees they became more bold and outspoken in 
their opposition to the existing state of things j but their 
joy knew no bounds when they had secured the election 
of one of their party to the post of chief magistrate of 
the State. Still they forbore to reveal their designs, and 
secretly despatched a messenger to Rome to bring word 
to Piero of the happy turn which affairs had taken at 
Florence. He knew that he could depend upon the 
Pope and the other members of the Italian League, and 
he now received the assurance that a large number of 
the citizens would declare themselves on his side if he 
could force his way into the cit)% 

Thus assured, Piero began to collect men and money. 
Some of his more cautious friends at Florence coun- 
selled delay, as they were by no means sure that the 
state of the popular mind was favorable to his attempt. 
But Piero could bear no longer suspense, and set out 
for Siena, the place appointed for meeting his fellow- 
conspirators. There he found the magistrates on his 
side, and he at once determined to make his way to 
Florence, with thirteen hundred men who had gathered 
to his standard. To prevent the disclosure of his plan, 
he endeavored to stop all the travellers who were on the 



276 SAVONAROLA. 

same road ; but a fall of rain arrested his progress, and 
gave time for some of the peasants to reach Florence by 
a circuitous route, when they instantly gave the alarm to 
the government. 

It became at once apparent that the city was not 
prepared to welcome back its old masters. The citizens 
flew to arms, and the members of the Signoria who were 
favorable to the attempt were forced to conceal their 
sentiments. The gates were closed, the walls were 
armed, and all preparations were made to meet the 
enemy. In this moment of suspense one of the Signoria, 
named Filippo Arrigucci, a friend of Savonarola, sent off 
Girolamo Benivieni, the poet who had written the hymns 
for the Carnival, to consult the Frate respecting the 
fortunes of the city. The story is told, not only by the 
contemporaneous historian Nardi, but in a letter after- 
wards written by Benivieni himself to Pope Clement VII., 
so that there can be no reasonable doubt as to the facts. 
He relates that, even before he had been able to deliver 
his message, Savonarola turned to him with the words of 
Christ to Saint Peter, " Mo dices fidei, quare dulntasti ? — 
'O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?' 
Tell the Signoria that Piero de' Medici will come to the 
gates, and will turn back again without obtaining any 
result." The attempt failed utterly and ridiculously. 
Piero, finding the gates shut against him, and the whole 
city prepared as one man to resist his entrance, retired 
without drawing a sword. It was the end of May ; and 
to give the last blow to his hopes, on the very day that 
he appeared before the gates of Florence, a new Signoria 
was elected, pledged to resist the attempts of the Medici 
and to punish the conspirators within the city. 

Although their attempt had failed, the conspirators did 



TREASON. 277 

not abandon their design, as we shall see hereafter ; and 
the hatred of the enemies of Savonarola waxed still more 
fierce. The government now fell chiefly into the hands 
of the Arrabbiati, who as a party were opposed to the 
Bigi, but were still more hostile to the Piagnoni. The 
Compagnacci under their leader, Dolfo Spini, began to 
consider how they could best give effect to their enmity 
against St. Mark's. Fra Mariano was about this time 
making one of his accustomed attacks on his rival in a 
sermon which he preached before the Pope. " Cut off," 
he cried out, " cut off, most blessed Father, this monster 
from the Church of God." To attacks like these Savo- 
narola always replied with the greatest gentleness and 
self-control. His wrath, his denunciations, were reserved 
for the enemies of God and of the liberties of Florence. 
For his personal enemies he had always forbearance and 
charity. This generosity only drove his adversaries to 
greater rage and violence. 

Savonarola, who had for some time abstained from 
preaching in public, had determined to speak to the 
people from the pulpit of the Duomo on the following 
Ascension Day (May 4, 1497). The new Signori, whether 
in sincerity yielding to the known wishes of the people, 
or hoping that things might fall out unfavorably for the 
Frate, gave the assurance that the sermon might safely 
be delivered. The Compagnacci, who had been for some 
time seeking an opportunity of attacking him, first of 
all thought of making an attempt upon his life on this 
Ascension Day. Among other schemes suggested, there 
was a proposal to blow up the pulpit while he was preach- 
ing j but they feared to bring down the public indignation 
upon themselves. Desisting from this scheme, they next 
considered in what way they might best expose their 



278 SAVONAROLA. 

adversary to ridicule and contempt. First, they collected 
all kinds of filth and placed it in the pulpit ; then they 
drove nails into the wood at the places where the Frate 
was accustomed to strike his hands on the pulpit when 
preaching ; finally, they set up in his place the skin of an 
ass. Their method was as childish as it was brutal ; but 
they hoped that in the confusion which would certainly 
ensue, they might find an opportunity of carrying out 
their design against the preacher's life. 

These projects could not be kept secret ; the whole 
city was full Of confusion, and on the vigil of the Ascen- 
sion the Signori gave out a decree that no one should 
interrupt the preaching on the following day. The friends 
of Savonarola were far from being reassured by these 
precautions. They came and entreated him to abstain 
from preaching ; but he received the advice with indig- 
nation. " I cannot," he said, " from fear of man, leave 
the people without a sermon on that day on which the 
Lord commanded His disciples to go into all the world 
and preach the Gospel." 

On the morning of Ascension Day the Piagnoni went 
to the cathedral and removed all the filth which had 
been heaped up in the pulpit. Just before twelve 
o'clock Savonarola came out of the convent, accom- 
panied by his friends. All the biographers tell of the 
remarkable appearance presented by the congregation 
assembled in the cathedral, — the Compagnacci, richly 
attired and perfumed, with a smile of scorn and derision 
on their faces, contrasting strikingly with the modest 
and devout appearance of the Piagnoni. The preacher 
began by speaking of the power of faith. 

"Faith," he said, "is omnipotent, and despises the life 
of earth, because it is assured of the life of heaven. The 



TREASON. 2 79 

times predicted are now drawing near, — the hour of danger, 
when it will be seen who is truly on the Lord's side. The 
wicked thought to hinder me from preaching to-day ; but 
they must know that I have never shrunk from my duty 
through fear of men. No man on earth, be he great or 
small, can boast of having hindered me in my office. O 
Lord, deliver me from these adversaries who call me a 
seducer; deliver my soul, for I have no fear for my body. 
I call as witnesses the Lord, the Virgin, the angels, and the 
saints, that the things revealed by me come from God, and 
that I have received them by divine inspiration in the vigils 
which I have passed for the good of this people which now 
plots against me." 

He then warns the righteous of the trials which are 
coming upon them, — wars and excommunications, the 
sword and martyrdom. 

"It is the will of God," he goes on, "that I should be 
the first to endure them. I have already told you that I 
shall meet with great ingratitude, and the lukewarm \i Tepidly 
who are often heard of during these two years] will treat 
me as did the brothers of Joseph, who sold him to the 
Egyptian merchants. These say that I am no prophet ; but 
they are only bringing about the fulfilment of my predictions. 
I repeat to you that Italy will be devastated by barbarous 
nations ; and when they shall say peace and safety, then 
sudden and repeated destruction shall come upon this per- 
verse Italy. But, ye righteous, make your prayers unto 
the Lord, and ye shall have His help. 

" And as for the wicked [here a great murmuring arose 
throughout the church], Lord, be not angry with them ; 
convert them, forgive them, for they know not what they 
do. Ye believe, O sinful men, that ye are fighting against 
the Frate, and ye are making war on the Lord ; because I 
do not fight against you from hatred of you, but from love 
of the Lord. You say that I sov/ discord ; but Christ came 



28o SAVONAROLA. 

not to bring peace on the earth, but a sword. Why do you 
not turn to virtue, for then you would have peace ? But you 
say I have no right to preach, for the Signoria has prohibited 
me? That is not true, nor ought I to abstain from preach- 
ing from fear or at the command of men. I shall be silent 
only when my preaching may do harm, when I shall fear to 
cause scandal." 

The enemies of the Frate seemed determined to take 
him at his word, for at this moment a great crash 
resounded through the church; and instantly noise, 
confusion, and disorder were everywhere, and many 
rushed out of the building. The cause of the uproar 
was a certain Francesco Cei, one of the Compagnacci, 
who had laid hold of the alms-box of the church and 
dashed it to the ground, while another beat upon a drum, 
some knocked upon the benches, and others slammed 
the doors. Savonarola's friends rose up to defend him, 
some gathering round the pulpit, others rushing off to 
procure arms, which they had placed ready in a neighbor- 
ing street. These, to the number of sixty, speedily 
returned fully armed, and took their place around the 
pulpit. This movement only increased the alarm of the 
multitude, who took the armed men for Compagnacci. 
In the midst of the confusion, which now became greater 
than ever, two of the Arrabbiati, who were also members 
of " the Eight," thinking that their dignity would pro- 
tect them, endeavored to make their way to the pulpit, 
with the intention of putting Savonarola to death. But 
they found his adherents ready to do battle in his 
defence ; and one of them, named Giugni, received a 
heavy blow on the ear, — an insult, it is said, never 
previously inflicted on one of " the Eight." 

It was a terrible moment for the preacher. " Wait," 



TREASON. 281 

he cried aloud ; " have patience." Then, raising the 
crucifix aloft, he exclaimed : " Hope in this, and fear 
nothing." But he soon saw that it was impossible to 
gain a hearing, and therefore, kneeling down in the 
pulpit, he prayed for a few minutes in silence ; and 
when the tumult had a little subsided, he came down 
and placed himself in the midst of his defenders, who 
received him with loud shouts of joy. Some held up 
their swords and spears, others their crosses ; and all 
accompanied him to the convent, with loud cries of 
Viva Crista, their favorite watchword. In the garden of 
the convent he concluded the sermon which had been 
so rudely interrupted. He told his hearers that they 
need not fear, — the wicked would fall into the pit which 
they had digged for others. "Then," he adds, "I will 
sing praises to the Lord, and peacefully depart from this 
life." In spite of the tumult the sermon was reported 
by Girolamo Cinozzi, who published it, with an account 
of all that he had seen in the Duomo during its 
delivery. 

Savonarola was as good as his word. He would not 
continue his preaching when it could be only injurious 
and cause scandals. But he could not refrain from 
publishing his testimony to the world in another manner ; 
and therefore he addressed a letter " to all the elect of 
God and faithful Christians," saying that, in imitation of 
the Lord, who often gives place to wrath, he would for 
a season abstain from preaching ; but in order that the 
Word of God might not cease to go through the world, 
he would say by letter that which he could not utter with 
his voice. They were not to be troubled, but to rejoice 
at tribulations. His prophesies would still be verified. 
His enemies had been trying to procure his excommuni- 



282 SA VONAROLA. 

cation, and because they had failed, they were making 
attempts on his life. They must prepare for still more 
grievous persecutions, but their faith would be strength- 
ened to endure them ; and they must pray to God that 
He would deign anew to open the mouths of His 
preachers, because when He commands there is no 
power which can resist Him. 

The failure of their last effort had not damped the 
ardor of his persecutors. The real authors of the dis- 
turbance were not punished, and many innocent persons 
of the popular party suffered death in their place. This 
was the work of the Eight, whose office it was to carry 
the law into effect, but who, as we have seen, were 
themselves implicated in its violation. The Signoria 
now ordered that no friar of any order should preach, — 
they went so far as to consider whether they might not 
pronounce a sentence of banishment against Savonarola j 
but the fear of the people deterred them from this out- 
rage. At the same time, every effort was made by the 
Arrabbiati to induce the Pope to issue the threatened 
excommunication, — a step which his Holiness was the 
more inclined to take, as he judged, from the disturb- 
ance of Ascension Day, that the party of the Frate was 
less powerful than he had imagined. 

Savonarola resolved to make another attempt to 
propitiate the man who so unworthily occupied the 
apostolic chair. He complained respectfully that he 
had never been heard by the Holy Father, who, on the 
contrary, had given a too ready ear to the false accusa- 
tions of his enemies, and had not read his sermons, which 
were printed, and from which he might learn what he 
had actually preached. He denied the truth of the 
assertions made by Fra Mariano, and protested his 



TREASON. 283 

readiness to submit to the judgment of the Church as 
to whether he had not preached the doctrine of the holy- 
Fathers. " But if," he concludes, " all human help shall 
fail me, I will put my trust in God, and will make clear 
to the whole world the iniquity of those who will per- 
haps be led to repent of the work which they have 
begun." 

Savonarola wrote this appeal on the 2 2d of May, 
and did not know that the Pope had issued the brief of 
excommunication ten days before (May 13). The brief 
— which was addressed, not, according to the ordinary 
form, to all believers throughout the world, but to the 
brethren of Santa Annunziata — had been intrusted to a 
theologian named Giovanni da Camerino ; but when the 
bearer reached Siena, he stopped there a few days, and 
fearing that the Frateschi would tear him to pieces when 
they knew his errand, he went back again, leaving its 
delivery to other hands, so that it did not reach Florence 
until near the end of the month. When it did arrive, 
many of the clergy refused to publish it, on account of 
the irregular manner of its presentation ; but it was 
at last posted on the doors of the principal churches of 
the town. 

It was a remarkable production. Savonarola was again 
a " certain Fra Girolamo," who was, according to his 
own representation, vicar of St. Mark's in Florence, 
who had sown pernicious doctrine, to the great scandal 
and unsettlement and ruin of simple souls who were 
redeemed by the blood of Christ. Then it was set 
forth that the Supreme Pontiff had commanded him that 
he should entirely cease from preaching, hoping that he 
would become convinced of his errors and retrace his 
dangerous way ; but to this prohibition he had given no 



284 SAVONAROLA. 

heed. Further, he had been commanded, on pain of 
excommunication, to unite the convent of St. Mark to 
the new Tusco-Roman congregation, founded by a papal 
brief; but he had still remained firm in his pertinacity, 
and therefore the Supreme Pontiff commanded the 
brethren of the Annunziata, publicly before the people, 
to declare him, Frk Girolamo, excommunicated because 
" he has not obeyed our apostolic admonitions and 
commands." 

Although the Pope showed the weakness of his cause 
in accusing Savonarola of heresy — for there was ab- 
solutely nothing in the brief to support such a charge 
— he still exhibited his subtlety and ability as a states- 
man by fastening upon the undeniable and undoubted 
fact that the accused man had not obeyed his commands. 
It was, of course, perfectly true that those orders had 
been issued, not with the intention of crushing a heretic, 
but with the design of shutting the mouth of a political 
opponent. Still, the charge of flagrant disobedience 
was a serious one, and Savonarola could not deny that 
he had evaded the command to proceed to Rome, and 
that he had taken no steps to unite his convent to the 
new congregation. As he could not deny these acts of 
disobedience, he proceeded to justify or excuse them. 
On the 19th of June, the day after the publication of 
the papal excommunication in Florence, he wrote an 
" Epistle against the Surreptitious Excommunication, to 
all Christians and beloved of God." In this letter he 
repeated the assertion of the soundness of his doctrine, 
and declared that the excommunication was invalid, 
because it had been procured through the false accusa- 
tions of his enemies. In a second letter, " Against the 
Sentence of Excommunication," he proved, by quotations 



TREASON. 285 

from Gerson, that there was no reason for fearing an 
unjust condemnation, and that to yield obedience to 
such a sentence were to show '' the patience of an ass 
and the silly timidity of a hare." ^ Following the same 
authority, he discussed the lawfulness of an appeal from 
the Pope to a council, although he expressed some 
uncertainty on this point ; but he declared further that 
to resist the Pope, when he used his authority for the 
destruction of the Church, was not only a right, but a 
duty. 

The excommunication was publicly pronounced on 
the i8th of June.^ This was done with all possible 
solemnity, in the presence of the clergy and the 
brethren of the various monastic orders settled in 
Florence. The sentence was read in the cathedral 
to the sound of bells ; and after the reading was 
concluded, four lighted tapers were suddenly extin- 
guished, leaving the place in gloom and in silence. 

It would have been difficult, by any other means, 
to show how powerful for good had been the influence 
of Savonarola in Florence. The brief had commanded 
that no intercourse should be held with the excom- 
municated man, and the Augustinian and Franciscan 
friars refused to take any part in celebrating the 
approaching Feast of St. John if the brethren of St. 
Mark were allowed to do so. There was now no 
check put upon the vicious mob, which had been so 
long kept in subjection by the terrible voice which was 
now silent. It was as though the days of the Mag- 
nificent had come again. The Signoria, composed 

1 Est asinina patientia, timor leporinus et fatuus. 

2 Burlamacchi fixes a date a few days later; but this seems 
to be the best attested. 



286 SAVONAROLA. 

principally of Arrabbiati, encouraged the multitude in 
their excesses. The indecent attire which the Frate 
had shamed men and women into destroying or con- 
ceahng, reappeared in the streets; the obscene Car- 
nival songs again resounded throughout the city. 
Shameless vice and indecency were everywhere. Any 
other pontiff but the detestable Borgia would have 
blushed to hear what work his anathema had wrought 
in the fair city of Florence. 

If the stern Puritanism of Francesco Valori had 
produced a reaction in favor of a party opposed to 
the Frateschi, it could hardly fail but that these ex- 
cesses should open men's eyes to the true interests 
of their city. Within a week of St. John's Day a 
new Signoria was chosen, and this was found favor- 
able to Savonarola. No sooner were they elected 
than they began to use their influence with the Pope 
to obtain the recall of the excommunication ; and the 
Pope expressed his willingness to submit the con- 
sideration of his doctrines to the judgment of six 
cardinals. While this negotiation was proceeding, 
Savonarola received an intimation, through the Car- 
dinal of Siena, — afterwards the successor of Alexander 
in the Papacy, under the name of Pius III., — that if 
he would pay the sum of five thousand scudi, the 
excommunication would be withdrawn. If this offer 
showed the Frate that the wrath of the Holy Father 
was not unappeasable, it filled him with indignation 
as a fresh proof of the venality which prevailed at 
Rome. 

But the Pope had at this time trials of his own 
which must have made his war with the rebellious 
vicar of St. Mark's a very insignificant matter. The 



TREASON. 287 

history of the Borgias is involved in great difficulties ; 
and it is now affirmed with confidence that the re- 
nowned Lucrezia was not the vicious creature that she 
has been represented. Whether she was in any way 
the occasion of the tragedy which was now enacted, 
there is no doubt that her brother, the eldest son 
of the Pope, who was Duke of Candia, was at this 
time most foully murdered ; and there is little doubt 
that the instigator and author of the crime was no 
other than his own brother, the infamous Caesar 
Borgia. 

It was a strange thing to see an excommunicated 
man writing to the Pope who had pronounced the 
anathema, and exhorting him to penitence ; but Savo- 
narola probably judged that now, if ever, the Pontiff 
was open to better and more sacred impressions. 
And, in fact, there was probably no moment in the 
life of Alexander VI. in which he did more seriously 
reflect on the error of his ways. Savonarola wrote to 
the "most blessed Father," and reminded him that 
it was the faith of Christ, proved by miracles and con- 
firmed by the blood of martyrs, which could alone 
give peace and consolation to the heart of man. It 
was this which could support men in adversities and 
make them joyful in tribulation. " Respond, then," 
he goes on, " to the blessed call, so that soon your 
sadness may be turned into joy. Blessed Father," he 
concludes, " I write under the guidance of love, and 
in the hope that you may be truly consoled by God. 
Already ' His wrath is kindled ' a little ; and ' blessed 
are all they that put their trust in Him.' May the 
Lord of all mercy console your Holiness in your 
tribulations ! " 



288 SAVONAROLA. 

Whether the Pope was really touched by this appeal 
coming to him in the hour of his bitter sorrow, or 
whether it was that his mind was too much pre- 
occupied with his own sorrowful thoughts to give heed 
to it, it would at least appear that he showed no re- 
sentment at the time against the writer. But the 
season of mourning and of transient penitence soon 
passed away, and then he remembered that the insolent 
Frate had dared to intrude upon his sorrow. 

Petitions and counter-petitions now went up to the 
Holy Father from Florence on the subject of the 
excommunication. The Arrabbiati entreated him to 
confirm his sentence. The whole of the brethren of 
St. Mark, to the number of two hundred and fifty, 
sent up a petition for its removal, representing the 
purity of the doctrine preached by their vicar, and 
the holiness of his Hfe. Another petition, on the same 
side, was circulated in the city, and had in a short 
time received three hundred and sixty-three signatures, 
when the outbreak of the plague put a stop to the 
proceedings of both parties. 

Savonarola has been blamed because he did not go 
forth from his convent and minister to the sufferers 
who were stricken by the pestilence ; but it has been 
overlooked that he was at this time under the sen- 
tence of excommunication, so that his ministrations 
would not have been allowed or accepted. It would 
be absurd to accuse such a man of cowardice ; for 
apart from the proofs which he had already given of 
his fearless spirit, when the people were now rushing 
in crowds from the plague-stricken city he remained 
steadfast at his post, ministering to the sick brethren 
of his convent; for the pestilence did not spare 



TREASON. 289 

St. Mark's. He resisted the entreaties of his friends 
that he would provide for his own safety, and remained 
reading to the sick such passages of Scripture as were 
calculated to afford them strength and consolation, 
and even writing counsels for the guidance of those 
whom the scourge might smite. 

The pestilence soon passed away ; but it was followed 
by a discovery which filled the minds of the people 
with alarm. The conspiracy of the Bigi in the spring 
of this year had ended in ridiculous failure ; but dur- 
ing the supremacy of the Arrabbiati no success 
had attended the efforts to discover its promoters in 
Florence. Soon after the appointment of the new 
Signoria a letter was discovered on the person of 
a certain Lamberto dell' Antella, a partisan of the 
Medici, by means of which the names of the principal 
conspirators were discovered. 

The inquiry was committed to the Eight, who 
speedily found that some of the chief men of the 
State had been concerned in the plot, and especially 
the majority of the late Bigi government, together 
with their gonfaloniere, Bernardo del Nero. These 
disclosures were so embarrassing that the Eight hardly 
knew how to deal with them, and they applied to the 
Signoria for advice. By these a number of additional 
judges were appointed to assist them in their exam- 
ination of the facts. Lamberto dell' Antella, who had 
indeed httle reason for attachment to a vicious and 
ungrateful master, on being promised a free pardon 
disclosed the names of the friends of Piero in Florence. 
He further disclosed the intention of the conspirators 
to make a new attempt to bring the Medici back in 
this very month of August. 

19 



290 SAVONAROLA. 

It was an anxious moment for the Eight and the 
other twelve who had been appointed to assist them ; 
but they determined not to flinch from their duty, 
and they took an oath that they would do justice 
without respect of persons. They then ordered that the 
Piazza should be held by armed men, and that care 
should be taken that no one was allowed to leave the 
city. In the name of the Signoria they required the 
presence of the men who were most compromised by 
the revelations of Lamberto dell' Antella. Some of 
them instantly sought safety in flight; others pre- 
sented themselves before the magistrates, when it was 
found that five of these had been implicated in the 
conspiracy. Of these five, two were relatives of 
Piero de' Medici, — Niccol6 Ridolfi and Lorenzo Tor- 
nabuoni. It will be remembered that the wife of the 
elder Piero, the mother of Lorenzo, was one of the 
Tornabuoni family. Besides these were Giovanni 
Cambi and Gianozzo Pucci ; th6 latter, like Tornabuoni, 
belonging to one of the most distinguished of the old 
Florentine houses. Finally, there was the aged Nero, 
who had been the gonfaloniere of the Bigi government. 
He was a man of high character and reputation, and 
was now seventy-five years of age. It will be remem- 
bered that although a partisan of the Medici, he had 
not committed himself to any overt acts in their 
favor ; and it was now urged on his behalf that his 
only off"ence was that he had known of the conspiracy 
and had not disclosed it. But such an offence in the 
chief magistrate of a State was one of no ordinary 
magnitude. 

The twelve citizens who assisted the Eight had 
acted as a kind of jury, and they now left those whose 



TREASON. 291 

duty it was to pronounce the sentence. But these 
experienced the same difficulty which had embarrassed 
them when they were first made acquainted with the 
names of the accused. It was their simple duty now 
to pronounce the sentence of death against the five 
men who had been proved guilty of treason against 
the republic ; but they were afraid to incur the enmity 
of the powerful families to which the guilty men 
belonged. They turned again to the Signoria, who 
again reminded them that it was their own duty, and 
not the duty of the supreme magistracy, to take the 
responsibility of the sentence. At last, however, Do- 
menico Bartoli, the gonfaloniere, proposed that they 
should bring the matter before the Consiglio Maggiore, 
to whom, according to the recent law, the final appeal 
might be carried. This was objected to by the friends of 
the accused. Seeing the indecision of the magistrates, 
and knowing that the time was approaching when a new 
Signoria had to be chosen, they hoped that by a short 
delay they might see their party in power, and so put a 
stop to the proceedings. But the accusers were equally 
resolved to bring the trial to an end. 

The Signoria gathered together an assembly con- 
sisting of the various magistracies and representatives 
of Florence, the Ten, the Eight, the gonfalonieri of 
the companies, the senate, or lesser council, besides 
themselves. There were one hundred and thirty-six 
persons in all, and the rule was suspended which 
forbade those present to express an opinion contrary 
to that of the Signoria. It was not long before the 
decision was given. The five men were found guilty 
and condemned to death, and their goods were con- 
fiscated. It was found, however, that there were four 



292 SAVONAROLA. 

votes among the Signoria favorable to the accused ; 
and their friends, hoping to take advantage of this 
circumstance, required that the votes should be given 
individually. This device was frustrated by Valori, 
who immediately presented himself at the table and 
gave his vote that these citizens were worthy of death, 
and that their goods should be confiscated, — an ex- 
ample which was followed by all. The Eight were 
now compelled to give their sentence, which they did 
by a majority of six over two. 

This decision was the signal for new discussions. 
The defenders of the condemned men now declared 
for an appeal to the greater council, according to the 
" Law of the Six Beans." Their prosecutors well knew 
that this appeal was made only for the purpose of 
gaining time ; and they replied that it could not be 
granted, because the accused had already refused to 
be judged in this way, and because they had not been 
condemned by the tribunal from which this appeal was 
allowed. The public excitement and indignation 
against the traitors was greatly increased by letters 
which arrived at this time, showing that the old 
enemies of the republic, the Pope and the Duke of 
Milan, were preparing to act against their liberties. 

The popular feeling was expressed by some of the 
leading citizens. While the people were threatening to 
attack the houses of those who were seeking to delay 
the execution of the sentence, Francesco degli Albizzi 
stood up in the meeting at which the appeal was being 
discussed, and called out in a voice of thunder, " Let 
justice be done !" while the Bigi party were doing their 
best by noise and disturbance to confuse the proceedings 
and prevent a decision being arrived at. 



TREASON. 293 

The people were almost unanimous in favor of refus- 
ing the appeal ; but the final decision of the question 
remained for the Signoria, and they still hesitated to 
commit themselves to either course. The sitting was 
protracted and tumultuous. They had passed the night 
in debate and noise, when Valori, who now became the 
leading actor in the government, rose up in great wrath, 
and seizing the ballot-box, advanced to the table, de- 
manding that the votes should be taken and justice 
done. Luca Martini, who was the Proposto, was con- 
strained to put the question to the vote. The four who 
had stood by the accused at the beginning were still 
firm, and voted for the appeal. But Valori was not to 
be baffled. What was the use, he asked, of calling all 
these citizens together, if their decision was thus to be 
disregarded? Was it not clear that these men had been 
condemned for conspiring against the liberties of the 
republic? Had not the citizens declared that they 
would defend those liberties, and that the traitors must 
die ? It would be well if we could believe that Valori 
was influenced solely by the love of liberty. There can 
be little doubt that he was also moved by hatred of 
Nero, who had succeeded him in the office of gonfalo- 
niere. His impetuosity, however, carried the day, backed 
as it was by the indignation of the people. Again the 
Proposto put the question to the Signoria : Was it their 
will that the sentence of condemnation should be carried 
out ; that instructions should be given to the Eight this 
very night to carry out the sentence of death against 
these five citizens? The four dissentients, seeing no 
hope of escape, and probably fearing the violence of 
the people, voted for instant execution ; and the order 
was given. 



294 SAVONAROLA. 

A last attempt was made to excite compassion, by 
bringing the five men, chained and barefooted, into the 
meeting. It was in vain ; the sight of them only in- 
flamed the wrath of their judges. The condemned bore 
their punishment with firmness and dignity. At seven 
o'clock in the evening their heads fell in the court 
of the Palazzo del Capitano ; and the same night the 
Signoria wrote to Rome, giving an account of the 
execution, concluding with these words : — 

"The city has been quite united against these perfidious 
and parricidal citizens ; even their own relations have de- 
sired that justice should be done. And now it is to be 
hoped that the State may be in safety ; for the whole body 
is resolved to root out every evil plant. May God have 
mercy upon the souls which, by betraying their country, 
have need of such punishment!" 

It has been brought as a charge against Savonarola 
that he did not interpose to save the lives of the five 
men, and especially that of the aged Bernardo del Nero. 
Such an accusation will be supported only by those who 
wish to blacken his memory without regard to truth or 
justice. There is no doubt that he tried to save the 
young Tornabuoni, although he had played a double 
part and deceived him. He afterwards declared himself 
that he was opposed to the death of Nero ; but it was 
impossible for him to interpose openly, and Valori had 
made up his mind that the guilty men should die. This 
accusation is of the same kind with the charge brought 
against him that he was concerned in the expulsion of 
the Medici at a time when he was not even present in 
the city. Let it be remembered, too, that Savonarola, 
while he strove with all his might to obtain the best 



TREASON. 295 

possible government for the republic, never interfered in 
the administration of its affairs. 

Savonarola, still under excommunication, was at this 
time retired from public life and preparing for publica- 
tion his great work, the " Trionfo della Croce." Our 
limits do not allow us to give a complete account of this 
work,^ which is perhaps the best adapted to convey to 
the mind of the present day an accurate impression of 
the power and comprehensiveness of its writer's intellect. 
Its primary object was to show the entire accord be- 
tween the teachings of the Gospel and the reason of 
man.^ In its form, at least, the argument was new to 
the age in which it was produced. The writer first dis- 
courses on the existence and attributes of God. In the 
second book he discusses the truth and excellence of 
the Christian religion, showing that while it is above 
reason, it is not contrary to it. In the third, he treats 
of particular Christian doctrines, — the Incarnation, 
Original Sin, the Passion of Christ, the Morality of the 
Church, the Sacraments. In the fourth and last, he 
shows that the Christian is the only true religion. 

In this work,^ the author was careful to give to the 
Pope his true place ^ according to the theory of the age. 
After pointing out that Jesus Christ had established Peter 

^ It was written in Latin and Italian. There is a good Eng- 
lish translation by Mr. O'Dell T. Hill (Hodder & Stoughton, 
1868). 

2 Villari remarks that in this work Savonarola was " the glo- 
rious initiator of that noble school which was afterwards honored 
by the names of Bossuet and Leibnitz." 

3 Lib. iv. cap. 6. 

* It is a pity that the English translator has thought good to 
omit this passage. 



296 SAVONAROLA. 

as His vicar upon earth, and promised that His Church 
should continue forever, he goes on, — 

" But it cannot be said that this power was given to Peter 
alone, and that he had no others to succeed him, Christ 
having promised that His Church should remain to the end 
of the world. . . . Whence it follows that in the vicariate of 
Peter He is succeeded by those whom He has called into 
His place, so that there shall always be one head in the 
Church, who holds the place of Christ, and who has the 
same power which Peter had. Whence, that the Roman 
bishops are the successors of Peter, is a thing manifest, 
and that the Roman Church is the guide and mistress of 
all others, and that all faithful Christians should be united 
to the Roman Pontiffs." 

When we remember that these are the words of a man 
then suffering under a papal excommunication, we may 
easily perceive how far he was removed from that which 
we mean by the name of Protestant. 



RENEWED CONFLICT WITH ROME. 297 



CHAPTER XVII. 

RENEWED CONFLICT WITH ROME. 

If the death of his son had for a moment drawn the 
attention of the Pope away from the man towards whom 
he entertained a mingled feeling of hatred and contempt, 
it was evident that he had never really laid aside his ani- 
mosity and resentment. Equally clear was it that it was 
from no doubt, much less from any conviction, of the 
unsoundness of his faith, that he had determined to par- 
alyse the influence of Savonarola in Florence. As the 
Frate frequently declared, he was hated, not as a heretic, 
but as an advocate of the political liberties of the peo- 
ple ; and this aversion had become strengthened by the 
boldness of the preacher in denouncing the evils of the 
Church and the immorality of the priests. 

It is not, therefore, wonderful that the publication of 
the " Triumph of the Cross " produced no change in the 
feelings or in the intentions of Pope Alexander. Still, 
the Frate waited in silence, hoping that time would work 
a change in the policy of Rome. Since the disturbance 
on Ascension Day his voice had not been heard in the 
Duomo ; and Florence, deprived of her conscience and 
left to her own evil heart, had gone from bad to worse. 
What was the Frate to do? He had vindicated his 
soundness in the faith. He was no heretic, he was no 



298 SAVONAROLA. * 

schismatic ; for he had plainly declared that the chair 
of Peter was the centre of the Cathohc Church. His 
only offence was his refusal to obey the command which 
summoned him to Rome ; and he knew Rome too 
well to hope for justice there. To venture into the 
den of the lion was to court sudden death or endless 
imprisonment. 

It only remained for him, therefore, to treat the 
excommunication as null ; and on Christmas Day he 
proceeded to celebrate the three masses appointed for 
that festival, and to communicate the brethren and the 
multitudes who came together to receive the Sacrament 
at his hands. That his new course of action might be 
clear to the world, he and the members of the convent, 
at the close of these services, went in solemn procession 
around the Piazza of San Marco. 

And now preparations were made by his supporters 
for his resuming his place in the cathedral. The gal- 
leries were erected, the seats put in order, and the 
consent of the Signoria obtained to his preaching. This 
step was not to be allowed without opposition from the 
ecclesiastical authorities. Lionardo de' Medici, vicar- 
general to the Archbishop of Florence, Rinaldo Orsini, 
not unwilling to enforce the papal commands, which in 
any case he could hardly have overlooked, forbid him 
the pulpit of the Duomo, and strictly prohibited the 
clergy of the diocese from taking any part or being 
present at the service ; and threatened any who might 
be among his hearers that they would be refused abso- 
lution, and that they would not be admitted to the 
Communion or receive Christian burial. To these 
threats the Signoria rephed by announcing to the vicar 
that if within two hours he did not quit his office. 



i 



RENEWED CONFLICT WITH ROME. 299 

he should be declared a rebel. This is certainly a fact 
which may well be considered by those who profess to 
look back to those happier days in which ecclesiasti- 
cal authority was supreme, and mourn over the inter- 
ference of the civil power in the evil days upon which 
we have fallen. All obstacles being now removed, on 
Septuagesima Sunday, February nth, 1498, he stood 
in the cathedral pulpit surrounded by an immense 
congregation. 

It was impossible for Savonarola, after so long a 
silence, and appearing as he did in defiance of the papal 
censure, to avoid the subject of the excommunication. 
He accordingly declared, as he had done before, the 
lawfulness and necessity of disobedience under certain 
circumstances. At the close of the sermon he referred 
to the expectation of miracles in support of his teaching, 
and, unfortunately for himself, he seemed in a measure 
to sanction this expectation. 

" In his own time," he said, " the Lord will stretch out 
His hand. But already you have seen so many signs that 
there is no more need of miracles. What miracle greater 
than the increase of this doctrine in the midst of so many 
contradictions ? Citizens, women, it may be needful to lay 
down our life for this doctrine. I turn to Thee, O Lord, 
Thou didst die for the truth. I pray Thee that Thou mayest 
require me alone to die in its defence, for the salvation of 
Thine elect and of this people." 

Four days later, in St. Mark's, he returned to his 
favorite theme, the corruption of the clergy : — 

" When I think of the lives of the priests, I must weep. 
O brethren, O my children ! weep for these evils of the 
Church, that the Lord may call the priests to penitence ; for 
it is clear that there is a great scourge upon them. It 



300 



SAVONAROLA. 



is the clergy who support every wickedness. Begin with 
Rome. They make sport of Christ and of the saints ; they 
are worse than Turks, worse than Huns. Not only are they 
unwilling to suffer for God, they go so far as to sell the 
Sacraments. . . . Can you believe that Jesus Christ will 
longer endure it ? Woe, woe, to Italy and to Rome ! Come, 
come, ye priests ; come, my brethren, let us see if we can 
awaken a little the love of God. O Father, you reply, we 
shall be put in prison ; we shall be persecuted and killed. 
Be it so. Let them kill as much as they will, so long as 
they cannot take Christ from my heart. I am willing to die 
for my God. 

"You have been at Rome and know the life of these 
priests. Tell me what you think of these supporters of the 
Church, of these temporal lords ? They have courtesans 
and squires, and horses and dogs; their houses are full of 
carpets, of silk, of perfumes, of servants. Does this look 
like the Church of God ? Their pride fills the world, and 
their avarice is no less. They do everything for money ; 
their bells ring only to gratify their avarice, and call only 
for bread and money and candles. They are present in the 
choir at vespers, because then they are paid. You will not 
find them at matins, when no money is distributed. They 
sell benefices, they sell the Sacraments, they sell marriage 
masses, they sell everything. And yet they are afraid of an 
excommunication! . , . Lord, send now Thy sword." 

On Sexagesima Sunday he again spoke of the papal 
authority and of the excommunication. " But why do 
they set themselves against me at Rome? Perhaps 
you think it is for religion? Not at all. They want 
to change the government ; they want to introduce a 
despotism ; and they do not care for the holy hving of 
the people, which rises with our teaching and falls with 
it." And again on Quinquagesima Sunday (February 25) 
he returns to the same subject : " But, O Father, what 



RENEWED CONFLICT WITH ROME. 30 1 

Will you do, if all the world come against you ? I shall 
stand firm, because my doctrine is the teaching of good 
living, and therefore it comes from God." The Carnival 
was drawing to an end, and he announced to the peo- 
ple that he would give a solemn benediction on Shrove 
Tuesday, in the piazza of the convent ; and he added : 

" When I shall have the Sacrament in my hand, I beseech 
every one of you to make fervent prayer to the Lord that, 
if this work does not come from Him, He may send a fire 
which shall draw me down to hell. Make such a prayer 
throughout these days. Write it and proclaim it to all." 

On the last day of the Carnival, after giving the 
Sacrament to a great number of the people, there was a 
procession ; and then the Frate ascended a temporary 
pulpit which had been placed near the principal door of 
the church. There he knelt in prayer, while the breth- 
ren sang psalms ; and then, standing up, he requested 
the people to offer the prayer he had taught them. 
Then, holding the Sacrament in his hand and blessing 
the kneehng multitude, he prayed, " O Lord, if I do not 
act with sincerity of mind, if my words come not from 
Thee, strike me with Thy thunder this moment." The 
people saw written on his face, while he spoke, the 
expression of a confident faith in his words. 

And then came, for a second time, as on last Shrove 
Tuesday, the " burning of the vanities." On the Piazza 
stood a pyramid larger than that of the former year, and 
on the top of it a representation of Lucifer surrounded by 
the seven deadly sins. Again the torches were applied 
amid the triumphant singing of the Te Deum and the 
exulting shouts of the beholders. For the moment Savo- 
narola had resumed his full sway over the people 
of Florence. 



302 SA VONAROLA. 

The Pope was more furious than ever. Nothing was 
talked of at Rome but the audacity of this presumptuous 
friar, who treated with utter contempt the excommuni- 
cation of the Pope, and held up the lives of the clergy 
to the detestation of mankind. His enemies gave 
Alexander no peace ; and Fra Mariano was foremost 
among those who called for vengeance. In the church 
of the Augustinians he upheld the authority of the Su- 
preme Pontiff, " who spoke by the Holy Ghost." " This 
is the true light, and not he of Ferrara, who preaches in 
the light of the devil, and dares to say that the Pope is 
a broken weapon {ferro)^ And here he could not 
contain his rage, but broke out : " The great drunkard, 
the scoundrel, the thief, the robber, who has treasures 
hidden away in secret ! O Pope, O cardinals, how can 
you endure this monster, this hydra ? Has the authority 
of the Church come to such a pass that a drunkard Hke 
this can thus ignominiously cast it under his feet ? " 

The Pope was desirous of using his last weapon ; he 
prepared to smite Florence with an interdict : but first 
he addressed a brief to the Signoria (issued the very day 
before the new auto-da-fe), in which he recounted the 
offences of the Frate against the Holy See, and urged 
them '* at least to separate this corrupt member from the 
rest of the people, and keep him in custody, that he 
might not sow new scandals ; " but if they would not 
consent to this, he " must have recourse to an interdict, 
and to other remedies still more efficacious." At the 
same time he gave strict orders to the canons of the 
cathedral to prevent him from preaching in their 
church. 

It was now the time for a change of Signoria. Those 
elected in January had cared no more for the papal briefs 



RENEWED CONFLICT WITH ROME. 303 

than Savonarola himself; but the March election gave 
a decided majority to the Arrabbiati ; and one of these, 
named Piero Popoleschi, and known as a most deter- 
mined adversary of Savonarola, was chosen gonfaloniere 
of justice. He was a cousin of Piero de' Medici, and 
had formerly borne that name, but had chosen that of 
Popoleschi after the expulsion of his relatives, and had 
joined the aristocratic party. 

It was a terrible change which had taken place in one 
short week, and Savonarola knew that the papal com- 
mands would now obtain a different reception at the 
hand of the authorities. On the day on which the new 
Signoria was installed, he preached in the cathedral on 
the briefs that had just arrived from Rome. 

" They call me," he says, " the son of perdition. Let 
this be sent back for answer: ' The man whom you thus 
designate has neither harlots nor concubines, but gives 
himself up to preaching the faith of Christ. His spiritual 
children, those who listen to his doctrine, do not pass their 
time in the commission of crimes ; they go to confession, 
to communion ; they live virtuously. This friar labors to 
exalt the Church of Christ, and you to destroy it.' " 

He would not lower his tone even in that moment 
of danger ; but he judged it best to retire from the ca- 
thedral and continue his sermons during Lent at St. 
Mark's. 

The Signoria were in a difficulty. Some of them would 
gladly have carried out the Pope's instructions, but they 
feared the people. The minority, who stood by the 
Frate, urged the mischief that his removal would cause 
to the State. The Signoria yielded to these considera- 
tions, and wrote to the Pope to say that Savonarola had 
retired to his convent, that they could not further inter- 



.304 SAVONAROLA. 

fere with a man whose doctrine was so pure, whose life 
was so holy. " It would be unworthy of the republic ; 
it would be unjust to a man who had deserved so well 
of his country ; it would be a cause of popular discord 
and of great danger to many." 

And so the Frate was permitted to go on with his 
sermons at St. Mark's. The congregations were so 
large that they were forced to exclude women from the 
sermons. These had to go to San Lorenzo, where Fra 
Domenico was preaching; afterwards, when that was 
shut against him, to San Niccolo. But they would not 
be satisfied until Savonarola consented to preach to 
them alone, on Saturdays, at St. Mark's. 

In the sermons preached during this Lent, Savonarola 
discussed the fallibility of the Pope, and declared that 
a man who said the Pope could not err because he was 
the Pope, might as well say that a Christian could not 
err because he was a Christian. 

When the Pope received the answer of the Signoria 
to his demands, he sent for the ambassadors of the 
republic in great wrath, and declared that he would 
place the city under an interdict unless Savonarola were 
delivered into his hands, or at least prevented altogether 
from preaching. In addition to this verbal communi- 
cation, he wrote to the Signoria, rebuking their audacity 
in defending this rebel against his authority. 

" Your conduct," said his Holiness, " has gravely dis- 
pleased us. . . . Take mature counsel on your affairs. . . . 
In any case, answer us no more with letters, but only with 
acts, because we are most firmly decided no longer to tol- 
erate your disobedience ; and we will place an interdict 
upon your whole city, which shall remain so long as you 
continue to show favor to this your monstrous idol." 



i 



RENEWED CONFLICT WITH ROME. 305 

It is, however, remarkable that the Pope, in these 
communications, withdraws the charge of false doctrine. 
When the government of Florence urged the holy life 
and good teaching of Savonarola, the Pope allowed that 
there was no question of these things, but only of his 
disobedience to the papal commands and prohibitions, 
adding that, if he would come to Rome and make his 
submission, he should receive absolution. There can 
be little doubt as to his fate, if he had gone to Rome. 

On the 17th of March, 1498, a meeting of the Signo- 
ria was held. By the influence of the proposto of the 
day, Giovanni Berlinghieri, and the gonfaloniere, both of 
them determined enemies of Savonarola, it was decided 
that he should be inhibited from preaching. It was 
no more than was to be expected. It is honorable to 
the Signoria that some of its members should still have 
protested against the sentence. Savonarola was not 
surprised. On the following day, the third Sunday in 
Lent, he announced to the congregation his resolution 
to obey, and bade them farewell. It was his last 
sermon. 

He told the people how often he had resolved to 
abstain from preaching on the things which had been 
revealed to him; but he said he had been unable to 
contain himself. " The word of the Lord has been with- 
in me as a consuming fire, shut up within my bones and 
my heart, and I have not been able to restrain it, 
because I have felt myself all on fire with the Spirit of 
the Lord." He then told them of the order he had 
received, the day before, from the Signoria. He did 
not regret it for himself. He could return to his studies, 
which were his delight ; but he was not equally satisfied 
that his retirement was right. " But," he said, " we will 

20 



306 SAVONAROLA. 

do with prayers what we cannot do by preaching. Lord, 
I commend to Thee the good ; Thou wilt forgive their 
shortcomings, for human frailty is great. Befiefac, 
Domine, bonis et redis corde, — 'Do well, O Lord, unto 
those that are good and true of heart.' O Lord, I pray 
Thee, delay no longer to fulfil Thy promises ! " And 
then, reciting the Lord's Prayer, he added, " O Lord, 
deliver us from all evil. I commend unto Thee the souls 
of our adversaries ; enlighten them, O Lord, that they go 
not down into hell ! I commend to Thee this whole 
people. Give them, O Lord, Thy benediction." 

The grief of his supporters was profound and intense ; 
the joy of his enemies was unbounded. The Pope was 
at last satisfied that his faithful children at Florence had 
done their duty. 

There was only one resource left for the persecuted 
man. He would still make an effort to give effect to the 
thought which had long dwelt in his mind ; he would 
see whether a council might not be convoked for the 
reformation of the Church. In this desire he had been 
encouraged by the Cardinal of San Pietro in Vincoli, 
and he knew that it was favored by the King of France. 
He determined to appeal to him and to the other princes 
of Europe. The life of this man who disgraced the 
chair of Peter should be condemned by the Church ; if 
possible, his election should be declared simoniacal and 
void. He now penned his famous " Letter to the 
Princes of Europe," telling them that the Church was 
full of abominations, and they made no attempt to 
remedy them, so that the Lord was grievously displeased, 
and had left the Church without a pastor ; for, he says, 

" I testify now to you, in verba Domini, that this Alex- 
ander is not Pope, nor can he be retained as such; for 



RENEWED CONFLICT WITH ROME. 307 

leaving alone his most wicked sin of simony, by which he 
obtained the papal chair, and the fact that every day he 
sells the ecclesiastical benefices to whosoever will buy them, 
and apart from his other manifest vices, I affirm that he is 
not a Christian, and that he does not believe there is a 
God." 

Before sending forth this letter to the Emperor, 
the King of Spain, and the other princes, Savonarola 
thought it advisable to address himself to Charles 
VIII. of France, in whom he placed his chief reliance 
for the assembling of the council. His letter was 
intrusted to a courier, who fell into the hands of the 
soldiers of the Duke of Milan. Lodovico, rejoiced 
at this opportunity of wreaking his vengeance upon 
an old adversary, immediately sent on the letter to 
the Pope. Before his Holiness could give expres- 
sion to his indignation, fresh events occurred which 
hastened on the approaching crisis ; but this crowning 
audacity of the Dominican vicar was not forgotten 
when the time of vengeance arrived. 



308 SAVONAROLA. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE ORDEAL BY FIRE. 

It has been asked how it was that Socrates, after 
thirty years of " public, notorious, and efficacious dis- 
coursing," ^ lost his hold at last upon the people of 
Athens ; and the reason has been found in the char- 
acter and circumstances of the Athenians. In the case 
of Savonarola the change was far greater and more 
remarkable, and the causes perhaps more various. He 
exercised a power and a sway over the mind and 
history of Florence which was never possessed by 
Socrates in Athens ; and the people turned against him 
with a completeness and bitterness of revulsion which 
exceeded the madness of the people of Athens. 

We have already referred to the severe and un- 
compromising Puritanism of Savonarola as having 
within itself the sure prophecy of failure ; but the 
causes at work were too multifarious and diverse to be 
easily identified and distinguished. It was a serious 
thing for a man to set himself as an accuser before 
the vices of a vicious age. It was a still more serious 
thing to proclaim war upon those vices incarnate, as 
they were, in the rulers of Church and State. Those 
who have position, power, and wealth, however feeble 
in themselves, however incapable of accomplishing 

1 Grote's History of Greece, viii. 634; Stanley's Jewish 
Church, iii. 211. 



THE ORDEAL BY FIRE. 309 

any great object even for their own advantage, are 
often terrible enemies, because they become a focus 
for discontent, and can sustain a warfare which they 
could not originate or conduct. It must be added 
that the position and pretensions of Savonarola were 
peculiarly difficult and dangerous. That he was sincere 
and honest we cannot doubt. He believed with all 
his heart in the claims which he advanced. But there 
was a point at which he became uncertain of himself. 
His biographers have collected accounts of miracles 
supposed to have been wrought by him. We cannot 
find that he ever laid claim to such powers himself; 
but he certainly did not discourage the supposition 
that such evidence might be granted in confirmation of 
his doctrine. 

It is, in truth, one of the most convincing proofs of 
his entire sincerity. An impostor might have known 
that, as his revelations were inventions, so he could 
have no pretensions to work miracles except as the 
mere deceptions of jugglery. Savonarola believed that 
the fire which burned in his heart was kindled by God, 
and therefore he might well ask himself why the same 
Spirit should not appear by signs and wonders, and 
confirm the words which He had taught His servant 
to speak. " God could stretch forth the hand in His 
own time," he said. He did not promise that it should 
be so ; but he did not feel that he had a right to 
repress the expectation. 

The changing humors of the upper and middle 
classes of the people had been faithfully reflected in 
the changes of the government. At the beginning of 
Lent (1498) the pubhc opinion of these classes was 
decidedly hostile to Savonarola; yet they were not 



3IO SAVONAROLA. 

prepared to proceed to extremities. Many of them 
sincerely respected him ; and they knew that the 
masses of the people still believed in him, and were 
prepared to defend him. If they went beyond what 
the absolute necessities of their circumstances might 
require, if they proceeded to lay hands upon the ex- 
communicated Frate, they might provoke a war, in 
which the popular element would be their adversary 
and destroyer. 

While these conflicting forces were pausing for 
some change which should set them in motion, an 
event occurred which was destined to have the most 
powerful influence upon the course of this history In 
the previous year Frk Domenico Buonvicini had been 
preaching at Prato, when a Franciscan, named Fra 
Francesco di PugHa, who was preaching in the same 
town, made a violent attack upon the teaching of 
Savonarola. He went so far as to say that he was 
ready to enter the fire with Fra Domenico, that it 
might thus be made manifest which of them was a 
witness for the truth. This offer was eagerly accepted 
by Fra Domenico, and a day was fixed ; but before 
that time Frk Francesco pleaded that he was ordered 
by his superiors to depart elsewhere on important 
business. It has been thought that this course was 
taken because there was no prospect of striking at 
Savonarola himself by means of such a trial 

Be this as it may, in the Lent of 1498 the same 
Francesco was preaching at the Franciscan church of 
Santa Croce, when he again attacked Savonarola in 
the most violent manner as a heretic, a schismatic, and 
a false prophet, and challenged him to enter the fire 
with him, to prove whether his doctrine was true. 



THE ORDEAL BY FIRE. 3H 

When Fra Domenico heard of this new attack, he 
claimed to take the brunt of the battle upon himself, 
because it had arisen out of the quarrel of the pre- 
vious year at Prato. He declared himself ready to 
defend the doctrines of his master, who was at this 
time prohibited from preaching, and willing to submit 
to any ordeal in defence of their truth. Savonarola 
discouraged this rashness in every possible way. He 
had akeady proved the truth of his doctrine, and 
none had ventured to point out the slightest heresy in 
his teaching. He could not undertake such a mode 
of defending himself without a clear divine sanction. 

Frk Domenico was not to be restrained. He pub- 
Hshed a set of propositions which he was prepared to 
maintain, in defence of which he was ready to enter 
the fire : i. The Church of God needs renovation. 
2. It will be scourged. 3. It will be renovated. 
4. Florence, too, after the scourge, will be renovated 
and prosper. 5. The infidels will be converted to 
Christ. 6. All these things will take place in our 
times. 7. The excommunication lately issued against 
our father, Brother Hieronymus, is null. 8. Those 
who do not observe it do not sin. 

To this Frk Francesco replied that he had no 
quarrel with Fra Domenico da Pescia, but with Fra 
Girolamo, whose doctrines he called in question ; and 
it was he whom he challenged to the ordeal. The 
matter might have died out as a passing folly which 
deserved no serious notice ; but the enemies of Savo- 
narola saw their opportunity, and determined that it 
should not be lost. If Fra Francesco could only be 
made to persevere with his challenge, they might now 
forever ruin the man whom they hated. If Savonarola 



312 SAVONAROLA. 

should venture to enter the fire, he would be burned. 
If he refused, his credit with the populace would be 
gone for ever. 

There can be little doubt that the Compagnacci 
were at the bottom of the movement. Dolfo Spini 
and his friends induced the Signoria, who were only 
too ready, to take the same view of the position. Pri- 
vately they assured Fra Francesco that there would 
be no real necessity for him to enter the fire ; and the 
assurance emboldened him to persist. He had no 
pretensions, he said, to compare with Fra Girolarao, 
but it was with him that the trial must be made : he 
had nothing to do with Frk Domenico ; and he added 
that his challenge was made "at the instance and 
request of the magnificent Signori." 

The Signoria were not entirely of one accord in 
this matter ; but the thing had gone too far, and it 
only remained to see it carried out. Burlamacchi 
asserts that Savonarola, although he never approved 
of the ordeal, offered to submit to it on condition 
that the ambassadors of all the Christian princes and 
the Pope's legate were present. This requirement was 
probably advanced, not only from the just suspicion 
that unfairness might be used in conducting the trial, 
but also to remove all doubt as to its lawfulness. His 
adversaries replied that these excuses were vain, and 
that they were advanced only for the purpose of 
wasting time. 

It was at last agreed that the ordeal should take 
place. Savonarola was forced to withdraw his oppo- 
sition. It is said that he was encouraged by a vision 
of Frk Salvestro, who declared that he had seen the 
angels of Fra Girolamo and Frk Domenico, who had 



THE ORDEAL BY FIRE, 313 

assured him that these brethren would come out of the 
fire unhurt. This Frk Salvestro, or Salvestro Maruffi, 
was a man who had an influence over Savonarola out 
of all proportion to his real power. He was one of 
those weak, nervous, emotional people who are unable 
to distinguish between facts and fancies, between 
reality and imagination ; and his power of converting 
his wishes and the impressions made upon him by the 
teaching and preaching of Savonarola into visions and 
revelations was a gift most dangerous to himself and 
others. But in this matter the whole brotherhood 
were of one mind. They came forward in a body to 
offer themselves for the Sperimento. For every Fran- 
ciscan that would enter the fire, there was a Dominican 
ready to go along with him. After several had an- 
nounced their wiUingness to undergo the ordeal, on 
the second of April, Fra Malatesta Sacramoro da 
Rimini and Fra Roberto di Bernardo Salviati da Firenze 
subscribed the challenge. The "Ten" sent an ac- 
count of the proceedings to Rome, together with the 
reasons assigned by the brethren of St. Mark for ac- 
cepting the trial. It was finally agreed that Fra 
Domenico alone, on the side of St. Mark's, should 
undergo the ordeal, and that the Franciscans should 
be represented by Giuliano Rondinelli, Francesco pro- 
fessing his readiness to go into the fire, provided 
Savonarola would do the same. 

The sixth of April was originally fixed as the day 
by the Signoria ; but they put off the trial to the seventh. 
It is believed that they had some hope that a brief 
might arrive from Rome forbidding the " experiment " 
to take place. In this, however, they were disap- 
pointed. The place appointed for the ordeal was a 



3 1 4 S^ VONAROLA. 

platform, about eighty feet in length, ten in breadth, 
and three in height, which extended from the Tetto 
de' Pisani, on the western side of the Piazza, to the 
Marzocco, the marble lion, which stands in front of 
the Palazzo Vecchio. The platform was covered 
with earth and bricks, and was piled up with wood and 
other more combustible materials, leaving a passage 
in the middle, four feet in width, for the two men to 
walk in. It was arranged that it should be lighted at 
one end, that they should enter at the other, and 
then that the pile should be lighted behind them. 

On the morning of April 7th, the monks of St. 
Mark's, who had spent several days in constant 
prayer, assembled for the celebration of a solemn 
mass, " their hearts full of such joy," says Burla- 
macchi, "that it showed itself on their countenances, 
through the certainty of victory" Still it was an 
awful moment, and Savonarola addressed them with 
unusual solemnity and diffidence. He had no faith 
in the intentions of his adversaries ; he probably knew 
that the Signoria were embarrassed as to the lawful- 
ness of the trial which they had sanctioned, and he 
showed in his words the hesitation inspired by these 
considerations. 

"I cannot be certain," he said, "that the ordeal will 
take place, because this matter does not depend upon us ; 
but I am able to tell you that, if we come to the event, 
the victory will certainly be ours. O Lord, we have no 
need of these miraculous proofs in order to believe in the 
truth; but we have been challenged, and we could not 
refuse to defend Thine honor ! We are sure that the 
devil will not be able to turn this thing to the injury of 
Thine honor, or against Thy will ; so that we go to do 



THE ORDEAL BY FIRE. 315 

battle for Thee. But these adversaries of ours adore 
another god, for their works are different from ours. O 
Lord, this people wishes only to serve Thee ! " 

Then, turning to the people, he asked, " My people, 
are you willing to serve God?" Every voice an- 
swered, " Yes ; " and then he bade the men offer up 
prayer while he was preparing the brethren to go forth, 
and the women to continue in prayer until they re- 
turned. By the time the preparations were finished, 
a message arrived from the Signoria to signify that all 
was now in readiness for the trial. 

A strong guard of soldiers had been placed on the 
Piazza by the Signoria to prevent outrage and disturb- 
ances ; but each party had taken the precaution to arm 
their own adherents and station them near the scene. 
The Arrabbiati had five hundred men under Dolfo 
Spini, and the Frateschi three hundred under Marcuccio 
Salviati. 

The adherents of the Frate formed their line of pro- 
cession in the piazza of San Marco. First came the 
acolytes, and after them the friars ; last of these Frk 
Domenico, attired in a red vestment,^ with a crucifix in 
his hand, a deacon and a sub-deacon walking on either 
side of him. Last of all came Savonarola, in a white 
cope, bearing in his hand a silver rehquary which con- 
tained the blessed Sacrament ; on one side of him Fra 
Francesco Salviati, on the other Fra Malatesta Sacra- 
moro, also wearing copes.. The face of Fra Domenico 
was calm and joyous, as of one going to certain victory. 
Behind them came a great multitude of men and women, 
carrying lighted tapers in their hands. The singers led 

1 Burlamacchi seems to say a chasuble, others a cope. I fol- 
low Burlamacchi chiefly in this account. 



3l6 SAVONAROLA. 

off, in a loud voice, the 68th Psalm : Exurgat Deus, et 
dissipentur inimici Ejus, — " Let God arise, and let His 
enemies be scattered." As they entered the Piazza the 
people took up the psalm, and the earth seemed to 
tremble under the tramp of multitudinous feet. 

The Loggia de' Lanzi had been set apart for the two 
bodies of friars, the Dominicans occupying the western 
division, and the Franciscans the eastern. The latter 
were already stationed in the place allotted to them, and 
standing silent, when the Frateschi marched into the 
square to the thunder of their psalm, and took their 
places. But now it was found that Fra Giuliano Rondi- 
nelli, the champion of the adversaries, was not there. 

Up to this time Savonarola appears to have been tor- 
tured with doubt as to the rightness of the trial which 
he had been forced to sanction. But now all misgivings 
seemed to vanish. He felt assured that his cause was 
the cause of righteousness and of God, that he had not 
chosen this mode of vindicating himself, and that God 
would be with him. He saw depicted on the face of 
Frk Domenico a joyful eagerness to undergo the trial ; 
and he was anxious that it should begin at once. But 
the challengers did not appear. They were still in the 
Palazzo, in consultation with the Signoria. The rm- 
ghiera, from which the Signoria were to watch the pro- 
cess, was empty. Instead of coming forth and bringing 
the Franciscans to the appointed spot, they sent a mes- 
sage to Savonarola, asking why he did not begin. 

The accounts of this scene are tolerably consistent, 
and they show that the party opposed to Savonarola had 
no real intention of undergoing the ordeal. All their 
efforts were directed to inducing him to enter the fire 
alone, or take the responsibility of retreating from the 



THE ORDEAL BY FIRE. 317 

trial. In either case they were victorious. Nay, more, 
they knew that if anything should happen to prevent 
the ordeal being gone through, the popular fury would 
turn against Savonarola, because he was the man whose 
claims and whose doctrines were in question. 

Hence they began to invent every possible pretext 
for delay. First of all they declared that the red vest- 
ment worn by Frk Domenico had been enchanted by 
Savonarola, and insisted on his taking it off before he 
entered the fire. To this the Dominicans consented, 
although at the same time they declared that the de- 
mand was absurd, as they did not believe in incanta- 
tions. The Franciscans next said that his habit might 
also be enchanted, and he consented to retire and ex- 
change dresses with another of the brethren of St. Mark. 
But still they feared to let him stand beside Fra Giro- 
larao, lest he should enchant this habit as well ; and so 
he consented to be placed between two Franciscans. 
And now he insisted that the trial should begin ; he had 
complied with their wishes, and there could be no rea- 
son for further delay. 

But still his opponent did not appear. People were 
going to and fro among the Franciscans, showing their 
sympathy with that side, and sneering at the Dominicans 
because they would not ascend the platform alone. Sa- 
vonarola became impatient, and demanded that the Fran- 
ciscans should appear ; but it was becoming more and 
more apparent that they had no intention of doing so. 
The people now began to give signs of restlessness and 
indignation. They had come there to see the Frati 
enter the fire, and no one would gratify them. The en- 
emies of Savonarola took advantage of their impatience, 
and stimulated them to cry for the beginning of the 



3l8 SAVONAROLA. 

Sperimento. It had been the hope of the Arrabbiati 
that, in case of a tumult arising, they might be able to 
lay hold on the Frate and despatch him without further 
trouble. They now believed they saw their opportunity. 
Stationed under the Tetto de' Pisani, they occupied the 
side of the Piazza nearest to the Dominicans. They be- 
gan to advance towards the place where Savonarola was 
standing ; but their attempt was observed by Salviati, who, 
keeping his men in their place in front of the Loggia, 
made a line on the ground with his sword, and shouted, 
" Whoever passes this line shall know the strength of 
the arms of Marcuccio Salviati," which stopped the 
movement. 

The Signoria were perplexed, and knew not how to act, 
when suddenly a thunderstorm broke over the city, and 
heavy rain began to descend. But the people would 
not be driven from their purpose, and remained standing 
in the Piazza until the rain ceased. Still the Franciscan 
did not appear ; and his party began to invent new rea- 
sons for delay, and to make new complaints of the con- 
duct of their opponents. Fra Domenico had walked 
forth from St. Mark's bearing the crucifix in his hands, 
and now they demanded that this should be given up. 
Savonarola advised him to do so, and bid him enter the 
fire with the Sacrament in his hand. Burlamacchi says 
that Fra Salvestro had seen a vision, in which it was re- 
vealed that Domenico should not undergo the ordeal 
without bearing the Sacrament with him. The Francis- 
cans then objected that such a course involved a fearful 
sacrilege, as the host would be burned. It was of no avail 
that it was answered that the accidents only could per- 
ish, — a proposition which was supported by the authority 
of many doctors of the Church. For the first time the 



THE ORDEAL BY FIRE. 319 

party of Savonarola resisted the demands of their ad- 
versaries. They now had the pretext they had been 
seeking for refusing to go on with the trial. Both sides 
stood firm ; and in the midst of the dispute the Signoria 
sent their command that the ordeal should not take 
place. 

The spectators were furious. They had waited for 
hours to see the doctrines of the Frate put to the proof, 
and now they were to be baulked. They forgot that it 
was the Franciscans who had refused the test, and 
thought only of the fact that it had not been undergone 
by the man who, they were made to believe, had oc- 
casioned the challenge. Even the Piagnoni began to 
exclaim that the Frate ought himself to have entered 
the fire, and thus finally have vindicated the truth of his 
doctrine. His enemies went about among the people 
■declaring that now the falsehood of his pretensions was 
demonstrated. The Franciscans began to depart in tri- 
umph, having accomplished their purpose. They had 
disgraced their enemy and turned the fury of the pop- 
ulace upon him. Returning to Santa Croce, they sang 
a solemn Te Deum in celebration of their victory. 

Savonarola, seeing the danger to which his brethren 
were exposed from the rage of the mob, requested a 
guard from the Signoria to protect them on their way 
back to San Marco. Upon this, Marcuccio Salviati 
brought forward a band of his most trusted and coura- 
geous soldiers, and forming them into a crescent {Juno), 
said, " Father, follow me, for I will defend you as long 
as my life shall last ; " and so receiving Savonarola and 
the brethren into the midst of his men, conducted them 
back to the convent. 

Savonarola, returning to the church, found the women 



320 SAVONAROLA. 

Still kneeling in prayer, and gave them an account of all 
that had happened. He then returned, weary and sad, 
to his cell. The howls of the disappointed mob that 
filled the piazza of San Marco came into his ears as he 
knelt in sorrowful prayer, and told him with no doubtful 
meaning of the days that were approaching. 



MARTYRDOM. 321 



CHAPTER XIX. 

MARTYRDOM. 

The ordeal by fire was the beginning of the end. 
Savonarola had lost his hold on the people of Florence, 
and he was not destined to recover it. Whether there 
was still a possibility of his regaining his former sway if 
different measures had been taken, is open to discus- 
sion ; but those measures were not taken. To many 
of the Frateschi it became at once apparent that active 
preparations must be made to defend themselves, per- 
haps even to assume the offensive. This was the view 
of Luca degU Albizzi and others ; but Valori, strong in 
the righteousness of their cause, would not hear of it. 
Albizzi and many others declared that this inaction was 
throwing away their lives, and instantly left Florence, to 
provide for their own safety. 

A speedy collision seemed inevitable ; and the Pia- 
gnoni were certainly imprudent, in so far as they neither 
prepared for it nor avoided it. They appeared to catch 
the spirit of the sorrowful words which their leader ad- 
dressed to them on the morning of Palm Sunday, the 
day after the ordeal. He seemed to be aware that he 
was speaking to them for the last time, and he expressed 
himself ready for the sacrifice, prepared to give his life 
for his flock. After vespers at St. Mark's the Piagnoni 
proceeded to the cathedral to hear the sermon, which 
during Savonarola's retirement had been preached in 
Lent by Mariano degli Ughi, one of the brethren who 

21 



322 SA VONAROLA. 

had offered to undergo the ordeal on behalf of Fra Giro- 
lamo. The Arrabbiati were determined to prevent the 
sermon. The Piagnoni were assaulted on their way to 
the Duomo. In the church itself noisy discussions took 
place. The Signoria were that day deciding that Savo- 
narola should be banished from Florence, and the broth- 
ers inhibited from preaching. Whatever opposition to 
extreme measures had previously existed seemed to have 
been removed by the events of the previous day. The 
Compagnacci had probably become aware of this deci- 
sion. From words they proceeded to blows ; and at 
last the cry was raised : " To San Marco ! " and " With 
fire ! " 

The signal once given, they lost no time in carrying 
out their purpose. Rushing furiously along the streets, 
they killed on their way two known adherents of the 
Frate. A number of the congregation had remained at 
St. Mark's after vespers, and were engaged in prayer in 
the church. A shower of stones was poured into the 
building by the assailants. The women and the princi- 
pal part of the worshippers hastily dispersed in terror. 
The doors were closed and locked, and only a few of 
the citizens remained to defend the convent. It is said 
there were about thirty of them, some of the most loyal 
and devoted of Savonarola's adherents. 

Although they had not been able to agree as to 
concerted measures for self-defence, yet some of the 
brethren, foremost among them Fra Benedetto/ had 

1 Fra Benedetto was one of the most loyal and devoted of 
the adherents of Savonarola. After his master's death he was 
first exiled, and then long imprisoned for his attachment to him. 
He was at this time about twenty-four years of age. Cf Padre 
Marchese in the Archivio Istorico. 



MARTYRDOM. 



Z''-Z 



collected a quantity of arms and ammunition, without 
the knowledge of Savonarola, for use in case violence 
should be attempted against them. When the assault 
commenced, they prepared for the defence. Fra 
Benedetto, with a helmet on his head and a breastplate 
over his Dominican habit, was rallying his forces ; and 
shouts of Viva Crista I were heard mingling with the 
noise of armor, disturbing the quiet of those cloisters 
so long the abode of silence, prayer, and meditation. 

Savonarola and Frk Domenico endeavored in vain 
to appease the tumult, and entreated the brethren to 
lay aside their armor. When words could avail nothing, 
Savonarola, attiring himself in a cope, and taking a 
crucifix in his hand, proposed to go forth and offer 
himself a sacrifice to the mob, " as it was on his 
account that the storm had arisen." Held back by 
the lamentations of his friends, he then took the Sacra- 
ment in his hands, and calling upon the brethren to 
follow him, he went in procession around the cloisters, 
and afterwards proceeding to the choir, told them that 
prayer was their only lawful weapon. Nearly the whole 
of the community joined him in prayer, singing before 
the sacrament : Salvum fac populum Tuiim, Domine, 
— " Save Thy people, O Lord ! " 

It was probably about this time that a messenger 
arrived from the Signoria, bearing the news that Savo- 
narola had been sentenced to exile, and ordering him 
to leave the territory of the State within twelve hours. 
The tumult without was waxing louder, the assailants 
probably being emboldened by the absence of re- 
sistance from within. Savonarola seems to have re- 
mained in the choir in prayer, there awaiting the issue 
of events. Francesco Valori, at last convinced of the 



324 SAVONAROLA. 

wisdom of the advice which he had rejected, got over 
the walls at the back of the convent, hoping to raise 
the Piagnoni in defence of their master. If Marcuccio 
Salviati could have been there at once with his Iron- 
sides, all might have been different ; but it was not so 
ordered. Valori hastened home to make his prepara- 
tions, but was instantly summoned to appear before 
the Signoria. Confident in the righteousness of his 
cause, he at once obeyed. But the days of his 
supremacy had not been forgotten, nor the death of 
the Medicean conspirators, which had been in great 
measure his work. Members of the Tornabuoni and 
Ridolfi families set upon him and killed him under the 
eyes of his wife, who, hearing the tumult as he left the 
house, had rushed to the window. They perished 
together; she was shot from the street as she looked 
upon the murder of her husband, and their house was 
immediately sacked and burned. 

The assault on the convent waxed fiercer, and fire 
was now applied to burn down the doors. The 
brethren flew again to arms. The enemy had pene- 
trated into the cloisters and into the church. Fra 
Benedetto, again marshalling his forces, poured down 
upon them a shower of stones and missiles of every 
description. The friars met their assailants with deter- 
mined courage, striking with whatever weapons they 
could lay hold of. Those who had nothing better 
used their crucifixes ; some, it is said, had attached 
pikes and knives to the burning tapers they had been 
carrying, and struck home with such vigor that they 
seemed to their adversaries under supernatural guid- 
ance. The grotesque and the pathetic were curiously 
mingled in this strange conflict. Burlamacchi tells us 



MARTYRDOM. 325 

of a certain German Frate, named Herico (Heinrich. 
no doubt), who, in defending the choir, " got up into 
the pulpit with an arquebuse, and shot a good many of 
the enemy in the church, exclaiming as he fired, 
Salvutn fac populum Taunt, Do7nine, et benedic hcBredi- 
tati TucB,'' taking up the refrain of the psalm which 
Savonarola had made them sing before the Sacra- 
ment. The vicar and some of the brethren were 
still before the altar in prayer; sometimes ministering 
to the wounded and dying. While Herico is dischar- 
ging his arquebuse from the pulpit, and stones and 
sticks are flying in all directions, there is a youth 
wounded to death borne into the choir, who receives 
the Sacrament at the hands of Frk Domenico, mur- 
muring, as he dies, happy in dying near his beloved 
teacher : Ecce quam bonum et quam Jucundum habitare 
fratres in U7ium, — " Behold how good and pleasant it 
is for brethren to dwell together." 

It has been the opinion of many that the brethren 
were quite holding their own against the mob, and 
might, with the assistance of their friends, have driven 
them off"; but the Signoria now began to take more 
active part in the quarrel. There is no doubt that they 
had become the declared enemies of Savonarola. To 
keep up appearances they seem to have issued simul- 
taneously a decree declaring the assailants of St. Mark's 
rebels, and another giving the same name to all those 
of the brethren who did not leave St. Mark's within an 
hour; demanding at the same time the surrender of 
Fra Girolamo, Frk Domenico, and Fra Salvestro. 

By these means assistance was rendered to the 
besiegers, who pushed forward and burned down the 
door of the choir, forcing an entrance there. The 



326 SAVONAROLA. 

defenders retreated behind the high altar, our German 
and another brother, also armed with an arquebuse, 
pouring their shots from both sides of the great crucifix. 
How far Savonarola had taken part in this conflict is 
doubtful. He had successfully interposed at the be- 
ginning of the assault, and had induced the brethren 
to lay down their arms. A fresh attack had been 
begun, and hostilities had been resumed, while he was 
at prayer in the choir. Some of the assailants having 
broken into the convent, they and the besieged had 
got mingled together, so that any effort to put an end 
to the conflict was hopeless, and his friends would not 
allow Savonarola to expose his own person. When 
the choir was broken into, he took again the Sacra- 
ment in his hands, and beseeching the brethren to 
follow him, he proceeded to the Libreria Greca (the 
Convent Library), and there prepared himself for the 
end. Gathering around him such of the members of 
the fraternity as could be collected, he addressed to them 
the last words he was to speak within those walls. 

"My children," he said, "before God, before the con- 
secrated Host, with the enemy already in the convent, I 
confirm to you my doctrine. That which I have spoken 
I have received from God, and He is my witness in heaven 
that I do not lie. I did not know that the whole city was 
to turn against me ; but the will of the Lord be done. My 
last counsel is this: let faith, patience, and prayers be 
your arms. I leave you with anguish and grief, to put 
myself into the hands of my enemies. I know not whether 
they will take away my life; but I am certain that if I 
must die, I shall be able to aid you in heaven more than 
I have been able to do on earth. Be comforted, embrace 
the cross, and with that you will find the harbor of 
safety." 



MARTYRDOM. 327 

The commander of the guard of the palace now 
appeared with a written order from the Signoria, 
requiring that the three friars should be immediately 
given up, and enforcing the demand with a threat to 
destroy the convent by artillery.-' Several of the 
brethren entreated their prior to save himself by flight ; 
and for a moment he seemed to hesitate. His course 
was finally decided by the counsel of Fra Malatesta 
Sacramoro. This man had been an ardent believer in 
the teachings of his master ; he had gone so far as to 
offer himself for the ordeal. The failure of that project 
and the subsequent conduct of the people had changed 
the faithful disciple into a Judas. It is the name given 
to him by Savonarola's friends, especially by Fra 
Benedetto, who was a witness of all that took place. 
He now turned against the Frate, through fear or some 
revulsion of feeling. While others were urging Savo- 
narola to flee, he interposed with the plausible question, 
" Ought not the shepherd to lay down his hfe for the 
sheep?" Savonarola was deeply touched by these 
words. Turning to the brethren, he gave them, and 
first among them Malatesta himself, a last embrace. 
Salvestro had hidden himself^ With the faithful and 
ever resolute Domenico by his side, he went forth and 
gave himself into the hands of his enemies. He would 
not leave the convent without speaking one last word of 
comfort to the afflicted brethren. " My dear brothers 

1 Villari says that this had been suggested by Fra Malatesta 
Sacramoro ; I cannot find the authority for this statement. 
Burlamacchi says it had been required by Savonarola himself. 

2 Vasari says that Fra Bartolommeo also concealed himself. 
It is possible, and not discreditable ; but there is no contempo- 
rary evidence, and Vasari is a very untrustworthy authority. 



328 SAVONAROLA. 

{Fratelli miei)" he said, "remember you have no 
need to doubt. The work of the Lord will ever go 
forwards, and my death will only hasten it," 

If the change of fortune had made friends to fall 
away, it had strengthened the attachment of others. 
An impressive scene took place shortly before he left 
the library. A young man named Girolamo Gini had 
been long desirous of taking the habit at St. Mark's, and 
was in the church when the siege of the convent began. 
He had laid down his arms at the command of the Frate, 
but he had resolved to show his devotion to his cause. 
When the enemy broke into the cloisters he had run 
into the midst of them, armed only with his crucifix, as 
if to seek death. Seriously wounded, he hastened back 
to the library, and kneeling down before the Frate, he 
requested now to be received into the brotherhood. 
It was Savonarola's last act of authority to grant his 
request.^ 

If the enemies of Savonarola had resolved and planned 
that his persecutions, his sufferings, and the circum- 
stances of his death should resemble those of his Divine 
Master as nearly as possible, they could hardly have 
acted differendy towards him from this moment to the 
hour of his death. No sooner was he in the hands of 
the soldiers than the mob crowded round him and 
heaped upon him every imaginable insult. They raised 
cries of joy, of execration, of blasphemous reproach. 
It was now about eight o'clock, and many bore torches 
and lanterns. Turning these upon his face, they cried 
out, " There goes the true light." They rushed against 

^ Other proofs of devotion were given. Fra Benedetto cast 
himself into the crowds and asked that he should be taken along 
with his master. 



MARTYRDOM. 329 

him and struck him, exclaiming, " Prophesy, who is it 
that smote thee ? " They kicked him behind, and 
howled in derision, "It is there he has the gift of 
prophecy." It was with difificulty the officers were able 
to conduct him to the Palazzo. He was at once brought 
before the go?ifaloniere, who asked him if he persisted 
in his assertion that he had spoken by divine revelation. 
When he and Fra Domenico answered in the affirmative, 
they were immediately committed to custody. The cell 
in which he was confined is still shown ; it was the same 
in which Cosimo de' Medici had been imprisoned by 
the Albizzi. The Signoria had promised when he gave 
himself up that he should be set at liberty after he had 
been interrogated. This promise was not kept. The 
next day Fra Salvestro, coming out of his hiding-place, 
was in his turn betrayed by the Judas of the convent. 
The three Fratri were now kept for their more formal 
trial. 

The joy of Savonarola's enemies knew no bounds 
when they heard of the success of the trick played by 
the Compagnacci and the Franciscans, of the failure of 
the ordeal, of the consequent revulsion in the popular 
mind, and the arrest of the three Dominicans. Briefs 
arrived from Rome telling the brethren of Santa Croce, 
and Fra Francesco in particular, how deeply the Holy 
Father had felt, and how earnestly he would hold m 
eternal remembrance their " holy zeal and evangelical 
charity." As regarded the Signoria, they were declared 
to be true sons of Holy Church, and every blessing and 
absolution was pronounced upon them. But a greater 
joy awaited the Pope and his firm ally, the Duke of 
Milan. Savonarola had still one friend, somewhat of a 
broken reed, it is true, yet dangerous to his enemies, if 



330 SAVONAROLA. 

not entirely to be trusted by his friends. It was to the 
king of France that the Frate had turned as a means 
of assembling a council ; he could not help thinking of 
him as a protector in his hour of adversity. Alas, this 
hope too must now fail him ! On the very day of the 
ordeal Charles VIII. had died at Amboise. 

The enemies of Savonarola had determined that how- 
ever his trial might be conducted, his condemnation 
should be obtained. The Compagnacci exhibited in 
public the arms which had been collected for the de- 
fence of the convent, and told the people that these 
were the proofs of the miraculous powers of the Frate, 
and of the love which he bore to Florence. The 
Signoria, knowing that the Ten and the Eight were still 
favorable to Savonarola, determined to bring him before 
a special and hostile tribunal. For this purpose they ap- 
pointed a commission consisting of seventeen examiners, 
with two canons. They took care to place on the com- 
mission some of his bitterest enemies ; among them Piero 
degli Albert! — one of the chief promoters of the ordeal, 
and the first who had objected to the vestment worn by 
Fra Domenico as being enchanted — and Dolfo Spini, 
the leader of the Compagnacci. The constitution of the 
tribunal was so manifestly unjust that one of the com- 
missioners left it in indignation, declaring that he " would 
have no share in this homicide." ^ 

When Savonarola was brought before the commission 
he gave the same answer as he had already given to the 
Signoria, — his doctrine was of God. To those who 
demanded a different reply he said, "Ye tempt the 
Lord." We have here the whole substance of his 

1 Burlamacchi gives the name as that of Francesco degli 
Albizzi. Villari shows that it was Bartolo dei Zati. 



MARTYRDOM. 331 

defence. Throughout the entire period which intervened 
between his arrest on Pahii Sunday to the day of his 
death, on the eve of the Ascension, he never wavered, 
except under torture, in the profession of his faith. It 
is now impossible to recover the true answers which he 
returned to the particular questions of his judges. At 
first he was allowed to write his replies ; but these were 
found so unsatisfactory for the purpose of his condem- 
nation that they were destroyed, and his oral answers 
were so garbled that it is impossible to place any 
reliance upon the reports. 

The first examination took place on the Monday in 
Holy Week, before the commission was made up. On 
the Tuesday he was taken to the upper hall of the 
Bargello,^ interrogated afresh, and when he refused to 
give the desired replies, put to the torture. 

Pico della Mirandola gives a minute account ^ of this 
horrible punishment as applied to Savonarola. His 
hands were bound behind his back with the strongest 
chains. They were then tied to a rope attached to the 
roof of the building, by which he was first drawn up to 
a great height, and then let fall with great violence, so 
that his feet did not quite touch the ground ; and his 
body, remaining suspended in the air, sprang upwards 
again, so that his shoulders were put out of joint and 
his muscles strained and torn. Instruments of torture 
were set before his eyes. Insults were heaped upon 
him, he vk^as struck and spit upon, his torturers demand- 
ing all the time that he should recant his prophecies 
and disavow his pretensions to be a messenger of God. 

1 Opposite to the church of the Badia, formerly the Palazzo 
del Podesta, now a museum. 

2 Cap. xvii. 



332 SAVONAROLA. 

Burning coals were then applied to liis feet, so that the 
flesh and nerves were half burned, in order that he might 
be induced to retract. He refused to do so. Again 
and again they repeated the torture, and he repeated 
his innocence, crying out with the prophet Elijah : Tolie, 
tolle, Domine, animam meam, — " O Lord, take away 
my life ! " When the torture was over and he was led 
back to his cell, he immediately knelt down and prayed, 
in the words of Christ, " Father, forgive them, for they 
know not what they do." 

It is difficult to say how often the torture was applied 
to him during his two examinations before the commis- 
sioners, each of which lasted several days ; but it is certain 
that the pain which he endured was extreme, and almost 
maddening. He was of a most delicate and sensitive 
organization, and while ready and wilHng to die, he was 
unable to endure the agony which was thus inflicted 
upon him. In the delirium produced by his torments 
it is said that he gave utterance to many equivocal 
expressions, and even that he confessed to being influ- 
enced by the desire of glory and power. His biogra- 
phers relate that he used the same method before his 
judges that Christ employed before Pilate. 

However this may have been, his enemies found it 
impossible to convict him out of his own mouth. Their 
questions had reference to three points, — his religious 
teaching, his political conduct, and his prophecies. They 
could obtain nothing from him on the first point which 
they could torture into a charge of heresy. On the 
second he is said to have been equally clear and dis- 
tinct. On the third his utterances were more uncertain 
and wavering. 

When they found that even the torture could extract 



MARTYRDOM. m 

from him nothing that was sufficient for their purpose, 
they employed a notary named Francesco Ceccone, who 
promised that he would so misrepresent his words as to 
make him confess himself guilty. This man had been 
concerned in the conspiracy of the Bigi, and is said to 
have been saved by the interposition of Savonarola, 
whom he thus repaid. Preserving some of his words, 
he distorted their meaning by omissions and additions 
which changed the whole impression they were calcu- 
lated to produce. For instance, says Burlamacchi, he 
was asked why he had done such great things for Flo- 
rence ; and when he replied, " I have done everything 
for glory," — meaning for the true glory of the State, — 
Ceccone wrote down " for human glory." 

It is almost certain that something of this kind took 
place, and Signor Villari, in printing the false reports 
which were published by the Signoria, has indicated 
passages which are evident interpolations ; but it is 
impossible to arrive at the truth. The stories told by 
his own biographers represent rather the view taken by 
Savonarola's own friends than any ascertained facts. 
Burlamacchi relates that Ceccone had bargained with 
the Signoria for four hundred scudi for the work which 
he had to do ; but the magistrates were so little satisfied 
with the result that they paid him no more than thirty. 
Complaining of this injustice to one of the citizens 
who happened to be an adherent of the Frate, he 
thus revealed the treachery of which he had been 
guilty. 

Pico relates a very probable example of this falsifica- 
tion, which is said to have taken place on the 19th of 
April. The Frate, he says, had the examination read 
over to him, and was asked by Ceccone, in the presence 



334 SAVONAROLA. 

of eight witnesses, of whom six were friars of St. Mark's, 
whether that which was read was true or false. 

" To which the man of God replied, ' What I have writ- 
ten is true.' 'Altogether?' he asked. 'Altogether,' he 
replied. ' To the letter {ad verbutnne) ? ' he was asked 
again. ' To the letter,' he answered. And then, turning 
to his friends who were present, he told them that no one 
was ignorant of his doctrine and manner of life, and asked 
to be commended to the novices, and sent them an exhor- 
tation to live in the fear of God, as they had been taught ; 
and entreated that they would offer earnest prayers to God 
on his behalf, because the Spirit had almost left him." 

In reference to this, Pico says his enemies declared 
that he had said, not " What I have written is true," 
but "What is written," — meaning the report of 
Ceccone.-^ 

If Ceccone failed to satisfy the Signoria, the remem- 
brance of his treachery is said to have been a heavy 
burden on his own conscience, which became insup- 
portable as the hour of death drew near. He was taken 
ill at his villa, and had only one maid-servant with him 
at the time. Two Dominicans came to the door, asking 
alms, while he lay dying, and the maid entreated them 
to come and try to bring her master to confession. But 
all was vain ; " he said his sins were unpardonable, 

1 Among the brethren of St. Mark's who were thus present was 
the Judas, Fra Malatesta, who, apparently desirous of knowing 
the truth, now asked Savonarola, "But are the things you have 
subscribed" (meaning the report of Ceccone) "true or false ? " 
To this question Savonarola gave no reply, but turned away 
from the traitor in indignation. Sacramoro then said, " Out of 
thy mouth I believed thee ; and now out of thine own mouth 
I disbelieve thee." 



MARTYRDOM. 335 

crying out that Judas had betrayed only one, but he had 
betrayed three ; and so he died without confession and 
absolution." 

The words which Savonarola had spoken to his 
friends on the loss of the spirit of prophecy represented 
with truth his habitual feelings during this period of 
his imprisonment ; and these feelings are probably 
represented in many of the expressions contained in the 
falsified report. That he said he was no prophet is very 
probable : he had said the same in the days of his 
prosperity and power ; and such a profession was in no 
way incompatible with the declaration that he had re- 
ceived from God the message which he had delivered to 
Florence, to Italy, and to the Church at large. But 
these simple statements were not sufficient for his cruel 
judges. They plied him with questions so artfully con- 
trived that he could hardly answer them without giving 
the appearance of equivocation and evasion. Whether 
his revelations were from God or were the imaginations 
of his own heart, it would be impossible to answer 
questions respecting them that would satisfy men blinded 
by passion and hatred. Many of his answers, there- 
fore, were probably ambiguous ; but we may safely put 
down a great deal of the report of the examination as 
an entire fabrication. For instance, when he is repre- 
sented as saying, " This was my hypocrisy, it was my 
pride," and the like, we see in these words, not the 
utterances even of the tortured and delirious victim, 
but tne invention or the distortions of the notary ; and 
it is certain that, when he was before the commissioners, 
he repeatedly asserted the truth of his visions, at the 
same time that he protested against these being made a 
ground of accusation against him, inasmuch as they did 



336 SAVONAROLA. 

not concern the State and were not matters which they 
could either examine or condemn. If it should be 
believed, as some have believed, that Savonarola did, 
under the torture, employ language which bore one 
meaning in his own mind and another to his hearers, 
this will not seem surprising if it is remembered how 
the last few days had been passed before his trial. On 
the Saturday he had stood for hours in the Piazza della 
Signoria, tormented by the tricks of the Franciscans, 
insulted and reviled by the people ; the next day was 
the terrible Palm Sunday, on the evening of which he 
surrendered to the magistrates. On the Monday he 
had been questioned, with every expression of inso- 
lent hatred and amid the tumult of the populace, in 
the Palazzo della Signoria, and on Tuesday he was 
put to the torture in the Bargello, — a process which 
seems to have been repeated day after day during his 
examination. 

When the report of this trial was published — and 
this was not done until it had been altered again and 
again — it proved so unsatisfactory that the Signoria 
withdrew all the copies and destroyed as many as they 
could lay hold of, and pubhshed another version ; but 
even then it was found to contain nothing which could 
be regarded as constituting a capital offence. Having 
thus failed, the Signoria determined to have a second 
trial, which was conducted in the same manner as the 
first, and with very nearly the same results. To crown 
the injustice of the proceedings, instead of reading the 
conclusion of the trial before the people and in the 
presence of the accused, in accordance with the law, it 
was read simply by one of the Eight, who announced that 
Savonarola had declined to be present, for fear of 



MAI? TYRDOM. 337 

being stoned by the people, — a statement which no 
one believed. 

The examination of the two companions of Savonarola 
was conducted in a manner equally illegal, and if possi- 
ble, more cruel and deceitful. They were tortured, of 
course ; but they were put to the still more cruel torture 
of being compelled to hear the falsehood that the master 
whom they loved had confessed himself a deceiver. But 
one at least stood firm. They could extract no word 
from Fra Domenico which could by any device be per- 
verted into a recantation or a disowning of the truth 
which he believed he had received. Finding that they 
could not entrap him in his words, they permitted hira 
to write his defence. To this they made great additions. 
Happily the two versions are preserved, so that we can 
ascertain the kind of changes which the falsifier of these 
documents introduced.-^ 

In this document Fra Domenico, after declaring that 
he spoke the truth, proceeds to state that he and Fra 
Hieronimo had been opposed to resistance by arms. 
He says that he went to the ordeal by fire willingly, and 
did not take the Sacrament with him to prevent its tak- 
ing place. When he was told that Savonarola had re- 
canted, he said that he had always believed, and until 
he was shown better always should believe, in the 
prophecies of his master ; and after enumerating them, 
he said they could be no injury to himself or to the 
city j " and in these things every one is free to believe 
what he will." He said that Savonarola had never told 
him what to preach, but had let him be led by divine 
inspiration. When he was pressed to say more, he 

1 Villari prints copies of both among the Documenti at the 
end of the second volume of the Italian edition of his work. 
22 



338 SAVONAROLA. 

declared that he knew no more, and that he had simply 
occupied himself with holy living and with Jesus Christ, 
King of Florence. If they tortured him again, they 
could make him say nothing different. When, after be- 
ing again tortured, he was asked to write what he had 
further to say, he declared that he had always believed in 
the goodness and sincerity of the Frate, and had rendered 
him obedience as his superior with all simplicity and 
care. " I have said," he goes on — and these are his 
last statements — "in the pulpit, to the brethren and 
also to laymen, that if I had known in Fra leronimo 
the least error or deception, I should have discovered 
and published it. To himself, too, I have testified sev- 
eral times that I should have done it ; and I should do 
it now, if I knew of any duplicity in him." 

It was very different with Fra Salvestro. His char- 
acter has been already described, and we have heard 
how he showed his timidity on the evening of Palm Sun- 
day. When he was examined he had only one thought, 
— how to avoid the torture. Even his answers, however, 
Villari thinks, have undergone alteration at the hands of 
Ser Ceccone ; but a careful perusal of his whole testi- 
mony leaves upon the mind the impression that no real 
accusation could be brought against Savonarola. 

When the brethren of San Marco were told of the 
recantation of their vicar their faith failed them. They 
were perplexed and dismayed by the rapid succession 
of changes and misfortunes which had fallen upon them. 
Even Fra Benedetto wavered for a season, only, however, 
to return in penitence and increased conviction to his 
former faith. On the 21st of April the fraternity made 
their abject submission to Borgia, and his Holiness gladly 
gave them absolution, especially as they disowned and 



MARTYRDOM. 



339 



abandoned " the head of the whole error, Fra Girolamo 
Savonarola ! " 

But the time was coming near for the election of a 
new Signoria ; and in spite of the reverses which the 
fortunes of the Frate had experienced, his enemies had 
some dread of his party returning to power. If this 
happened, their cruel injustice would instantly be dis- 
covered. They took effectual precautions to prevent 
such an event. On the day of the assembling of the 
great council for the election of the Signoria they took 
care to exclude a large number, some say as many as 
two hundred, of its members who belonged to the pop- 
ular party. By this means a new Signoria, of the same 
kind as their predecessors, were elected, headed by a 
gotifaloniere named Vieri de' Medici, " who was worthy 
of the name which he bore." 

The Pope had for some time been insisting that Savo- 
narola should be sent to Rome to be tried for his of- 
fences. The old Signoria had temporized, evaded the 
request, put off giving a final answer, until they had 
secured the election of their successors ; and then the 
Pope was informed that they were unable to grant his 
request. Amidst the masses of falsehood it is impossi- 
ble to discern their whole reason for this refusal. Cer- 
tain pretexts were addressed to the Pope himself; other 
more private reasons were assigned in a letter to their 
own ambassadors. It may have been that they were 
unwilling to part with their authority. They may have 
wished that the death of the Frate should take place at 
Florence, to strike terror into the hearts of his adhe- 
rents ; so at least they said. Burlamacchi suggests that 
they were afraid of the falsifications committed at their 
request by Ceccone being found out. They requested 



340 



SAVONAROLA. 



his Holiness to send two commissioners to try the ac- 
cused in his name. The Pope at last agreed, and the 
commissioners arrived at Florence on the 19th of May. 
They were Giovacchino Turriano, General of the Do- 
minicans, and Francesco Romolino, Auditor e of the 
Governor of Rome, a Spanish doctor. They were com- 
missioned by Alexander "to examine the errors and 
crimes of those three sons of perdition," — a strange de- 
scription of men who were to be tried and examined ! 

Nearly a month had elapsed from the last examina- 
tion of the three prisoners, and Savonarola had employed 
this interval in writing short commentaries on the*3rst 
and the 51st Psalms. In this work he seems to have re- 
covered all his old energy, and writes as he preached. 
Still he dwells upon his favorite thought of the renova- 
tion of the Church, and finds consolation in the convic- 
tion of its accomplishment. He is a penitent sinner, 
but an undoubting believer. " I will hope, then, in the 
Lord," he writes in his commentary on the Miserere,^ 
" and soon I shall be delivered from all tribulation. And 
by whose merits ? Not by my own, but through Thine, 
O Lord ! I do not offer my own righteousness, but I 
seek Thy mercy. The Pharisees gloried in their right- 
eousness, so that they have not that of God, which is 
by grace alone ; and no one will ever be righteous be- 
fore God by having done the works of the law alone." 
One other work he composed in prison : it was his 
" Rule for a Good Christian Life," written at the request 
of his jailer, who had been so deeply impressed by the 
sanctity of his deportment that he asked him to provide 
him with such a rule. 

1 This commentary soon ran into thirteen editions. It was 
republished by Luther in 1524. 



MARTYRDOM. 341 

When the papal commissioners entered Florence, they 
were greeted on all sides with shouts of " Death, death 
to the Frate ! " There was no doubt of that from the 
beginning. Romolino told some of the Signori that he 
had brought a sketch of the sentence with him. The 
trial was a mere farce. It had been determined by the 
Pope, as by the Signoria, to perpetrate a judicial murder. 
There was no attempt made to discover the truth, but 
only to get hold of something which might criminate the 
accused. As threats and abuse had no effect upon him, 
he was put to the torture. When this was being applied, 
he turned to the magistrates and said aloud, " Now hear 
me, magistrates of Florence, and be my witnesses. I 
have denied my light through fear of torture. If I have 
to suffer, I am wilhng to suffer for the truth. That 
which I have spoken I have received from God." 
These words were remembered and placed on record. 
Under the torture he became delirious, and seems again 
to have had recourse, consciously or unconsciously, to 
his former ambiguity of language. This was when speak- 
ing of his prophecies. There was no ambiguity in his 
utterances concerning the faith or the Church. The 
next day (May 21st) they put him to the torture again ; 
but still his answers were inconclusive. Seeing that no 
more could be extracted from him, Romolino told him 
he must return to-morrow to hear his sentence. " I am 
a prisoner," he replied ; " I shall come if they bring 
me." The result of this examination was so unsatis- 
factory that it was not even published. Ceccone seems 
again to have done his best, but even his garbled report 
could only demonstrate the innocence of the accused. 

On the 2 2d of May they met to decide the question 
of the guilt of Savonarola and his companions. By way 



342 SAVONAROLA. 

of making a show of fairness, Romolino suggested that 
the life of Fra Domenico should be spared ; but he was 
told that in that case the whole doctrine of Savonarola 
would remain alive. To which Romolino instantly made 
answer : " A wretched friar {frataccio) more or less 
makes little difference ; put him to death, then ! " 
When the Signoria met there was still one man who 
refused to consent to the condemnation. His name, 
which deserves to be remembered, was Agnolo Pandol- 
fini.-* To him " it seemed a very serious fault to put to 
death a man of qualities so excellent that such an one 
was hardly to be seen in a century. Such a man," he 
said, " would not only bring back faith to the world, but 
also the sciences, with which he was most highly endowed. 
I therefore counsel you to keep him in prison, if you so 
wish, but preserve his life and allow him to write, that 
the world may not lose the fruits of his genius." ' The 
answer was worthy of the whole transaction. " No one," 
it was said, " could trust the new Signoria that might be 
elected within two months. The Frate would certainly 
be set at liberty, and would again bring confusion and 
destruction upon the city. A dead enemy makes no 
more war." It was decided that they should be first 
hanged, and then burned. 

The sentence of death was communicated the same 
night to the three condemned men. Savonarola received 
the announcement with perfect calm. He was engaged 
in prayer when the messenger arrived. He returned no 
answer, but only continued more earnest and fervent in 
his prayers. A member of a society which attended 
on the condemned in their last hours, named Jacopo 

^ Thus Villari in his first edition. In his second he gives the 
surname as Niccolini. 



MARTYRDOM. 343 

Niccolini, came to pass the night with him. " I do not 
come," he said to Savonarola, " to recommend resigna- 
tion to one who has brought back a whole people to the 
paths of virtue." "Do your duty," was the only reply. 
He refused to sup, lest it should interrupt his meditations. 
After confessing to a Benedictine monk, he asked Nic- 
colini to let him lay his head upon his knees. In this 
attitude he fell asleep ; and as he slept he talked and 
smiled. It was a presage of the coming peace and joy. 

Fra Domenico received his sentence with the same 
composure which he had shown throughout. He re- 
joiced to suffer with his master and for his cause. To 
the friars of Fiesole, of which convent he was prior, he 
wrote a letter bidding them farewell and giving them 
his last instructions. After asking for their prayers, and 
bidding them salute the brethren of St. Mark's, and 
especially those of Fiesole, he gave a touching evidence 
of his faithfulness unto death. " Collect from my cell," 
he writes, " all the works of our Father Girolamo ; have 
them bound, and place one copy in the library, and an- 
other in the refectory to be read at table." Fra Salvestro 
was completely overwhelmed by the intelligence of the 
sentence. 

Before they went to rest for the night Savonarola had 
prayed Niccolini to obtain for him the last favor of an 
interview with his two brethren. After some hesitation 
on the part of the Signoria the request was granted. 
They met in the hall of the great council, — the very 
chamber which had been erected by the patriotic efforts 
of Savonarola himself. It was the first time that they 
had seen each other since the night when they left St. 
Mark's for the last time. It was to be a short interview, 
and Savonarola turned at once to Domenico and said 



344 SAVONAROLA. 

he knew that he wished to be burned alive ; " but," he 
said, " it is not given to you to choose the manner of 
your death. Receive with cheerfulness that which God 
has prepared for you. Who knows if you will be able to 
bear that which He has appointed ? — since that depends, 
not upon your own virtue, but on the grace of God. It 
is not, therefore, expedient to tempt God." Domenico 
received this counsel in silence. 

Turning then to Frk Salvestro, he said, " I know 
that you wish to declare your innocence before the 
people. I require you to abandon such a thought, and 
rather to follow the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
Who not even upon the cross would speak of His in- 
nocence." Without answering a word they both knelt 
down before their superior, and received his benediction 
in silence. They were then reconducted to their cells 
to snatch a brief repose, and then to prepare themselves 
for death. 

The place of execution was the same as that ap- 
pointed for the ordeal ; and on the same ground which 
had been occupied by the scaffold on that occasion was 
now raised another, about the height of a man, on which 
were piled all kinds of inflammable materials, and at 
the western end a gallows with two arms, in the form 
of a cross. The resemblance, indeed, was so striking 
that they cut off pieces from the ends of the cross-beam. 
From the arms of the cross hung three nooses and 
chains, the chains intended to support the bodies in 
the fire after they were strangled. The crowds on the 
Piazza were enormous, as on the day of the ordeal ; but 
a feeling of deeper solemnity seemed to pervade them. 
On that occasion they had been swayed by doubt, sus- 
pense, eager curiosity ; now they knew what Florence, 



MARTYRDOM. 345 

what Rome had decided to do with the man who had 
built up for them their new system of government. 
Many there were who looked on with savage exultation, 
knowing that the voice which had rebuked and con- 
demned them could now no longer disturb them in 
their evil courses. Others — and among them some 
of his political adversaries — were agitated and terrified 
at the success which had attended their endeavors. 
The horror of the scene was increased by the presence 
of a number of criminals let loose from prison by the 
Signoria. These wretches had come, as was evident 
from their words and gestures, to enjoy a festival ; and 
by the insults which they heaped upon the condemned 
men they showed that they understood the reason of 
their liberation. 

The platform was united to the ringhiera by a kind 
of wooden bridge, over which the condemned men 
were to proceed to the place of execution. On the 
ringhiera itself were erected three tribunals. The first, 
which was nearest to the gate of the palace, was for the 
Bishop of Vasona. He had been appointed with a 
refinement of cruelty to superintend the degradation 
of the Frate as a Dominican who had himself received 
the habit at the hands of Savonarola, although he had 
afterwards become a member of the congregation of 
Santa Maria Novella. The second was for the apostohc 
commissaries ; the third, nearest to the Marzocco, was 
for the gofifaloniere and the Eight. 

In the morning the three Frati met again to receive 
the Holy Communion. Savonarola, before communi- 
cating himself, took the host in his hand and offered 
an earnest prayer, " with wonderful joyfulness of mind," 
says Pico. 



346 SAVONAROLA. 

" I know, O Lord," — thus he prayed — " that Thou art 
the Supreme God, who didst make heaven and earth and 
the whole universe. I know also that Thou art perfect 
and indivisible Trinity, comprehending three distinct Per- 
sons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. I ac- 
knowledge the Son as the Word of the Eternal Father, 
who came down from heaven to earth into the womb of 
the Virgin Mary. Thou, O Lord, didst ascend to the wood 
of the cross, and didst shed Thy most precious blood to 
dehver us wretched men from sin. I pray and beseech 
Thee that Thy blood may not have been shed in vain, but 
for the remission of my sins. For all of these which I 
may have committed, from the day in which I was washed 
in the sacred waves to this hour. I pray that I may obtain 
pardon of Thee, as well as for every offence and injury 
which I may have done to this city, and for every error of 
which 1 may be ignorant." ^ 

He then took the Communion, and gave it to his two 
companions. Shortly afterwards they were told that 
they must proceed to the Piazza. 

As they descended the stairs of the palace they were 
met by a Dominican of Santa Maria Novella, who had 
orders to despoil them of their habits, so that they came 
before their judges wearing only their woollen tunics, 
with their feet bare and their hands bound behind them. 
Savonarola received this unexpected insult with calm- 
ness, but with deep grief. " O sacred habit," he said, 
as it was removed, " how much I desired thee ! By 
the grace of God thou wast granted to me ; and I have 

1 Before he left his cell he had told Niccolini of the calamities 
which were to come upon Florence, and that they would happen 
under a pope named Clement, — all of which took place. CL 
Villari, lib. iv. cap. lo 



MARTYRDOM. 347 

preserved thee unstained to this moment. Now I do 
not abandon thee, but thou art taken from me." 

He then took his place before the first tribunal, that 
which was presided over by his old disciple, the Bishop 
of Vasona. It was no agreeable task that was assigned 
to him, to degrade an innocent man, and one whom 
he had formerly venerated as his master. He could 
hardly look up, and seemed more like the condemned 
criminal than the judge. The three friars were placed 
before him, vested again in the religious habit. The 
confusion of the bishop showed itself in his words. It 
was his ofifice to separate the prisoners from the Church 
on earth ; but as he stammered forth the words, " Separo 
teab Ecdesia militafite {1 separate thee from the Church 
militant)," he added in his confusion, " atque trium- 
phante (and triumphant)." " Militante, yes," replied 
Savonarola at once ; " but triumphante, no I for this 
does not belong to you."^ They were words which 
were heard by many, and could never be forgotten. 

They were then led in their tunicles before the two 
papal commissioners. They had just been excommu- 
nicated, and now they were to be restored ! RomoUno 
declared that he was empowered to grant them plenary 
indulgence. " His HoHness, our Lord Alexander VI., 
is pleased to deliver you from the pains of purgatory, 
giving you plenary indulgence of your sins, and restoring 
you to your first innocence. Do you accept it? " They 
assented by inclining their heads. 

They were then taken before the tribunal of the 
Eight, who as a matter of custom went through the 

1 Pico: Militante, non triumphatite ; hoc enim tuum non est. 
Burlamacchi : Delia militante si, ma della trionfante no, questo 
a voi non appartiene. 



348 SAVONAROLA. 

form of voting, and declared that they were unanimous 
in their condemnation. They expressed their decision 
in these words : — 

" The gonfaloniere and the Eight, having well considered 
the trials of the three friars, and the enormous crimes which 
they reveal, and especially having considered the sentence 
of the Pope, which consigns them to the secular tribunal 
for punishment, decree that each one of the three friars 
shall be hanged on the gallows, and then burned, in order 
that their souls may be entirely separated from their 
bodies." 

They were then led to the place of execution. The 
platform had been so roughly constructed that gaps 
were left between the planks. Through these some of 
the mob thrust sharp stakes, to wound the naked feet of 
the condemned as they passed along. Then Fra Sal- 
vestro, who up to that time had shown the greatest 
timidity and terror at the near prospect of death, seemed 
to become inspired, and his face shone as he told Sa- 
vonarola that they must now endure death with a ready 
and courageous mind. Savonarola exhorted him and 
Domenico to remain steadfast, to dismiss all fear and 
anxiety, saying that they should thus the sooner come to 
heaven, where they would sing that psalm of David, 
Ecce quam bojtum, — " Behold, how good and how 
pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity ! " 

Amid the insults which were poured upon them as 
they passed, there were not wanting expressions of 
grief and sympathy. Some exhorted them to die with 
a willing mind ; some are said to have offered them 
food. " Why," asked Savonarola, " should you offer such 
things to me, who am about to leave this hfe ? " and 
again, " In the last hour only God is needed to comfort 



MARTYRDOM. 349 

mortals." A priest named Nerotto asked him, "With 
what mind do you endure this martyrdom?" He 
simply repHed, " Should I not die willingly for Him who 
suffered as much for me? "and raising up his eyes to 
his crucifix, he kissed it. 

Fra Domenico was worthy of himself to the last. 
He was so serene and cheerful that he seemed like 
" one going to a dance, and not to death." He wished 
to sing the Te Deum aloud as he went along ; but at 
the request of Savonarola he desisted, saying, " Accom- 
pany me then in an undertone ; " and so they recited 
it throughout; after which he added to those nearest, 
" Remember that the prophecies of Fra Girolamo must 
all be fulfilled, and that we all die in innocence." 

Frk Salvestro was the first to die. He mounted to 
his place with a firm step, in silence, but " with some 
tears in his eyes ; " and murmuring, " Lord, into Thy 
hands I commend my spirit," he gave his neck to the 
executioner, and speedily was dead. He was followed 
immediately by Fra Domenico, whose face shone with 
joyful hope, as though he were already in the antechamber 
of heaven. 

Last of all came Savonarola, softly reciting the 
Apostles' Creed. He was so absorbed in devotion 
that he seemed scarcely aware of what was passing 
around him ; but as he took his place under the cross 
he cast one look of sorrowful reproach upon the multi- 
tudes whom he had so often taught, guided, and com- 
forted. How different were those upturned looks from 
the faces which had hung upon his words a few short 
months before ! An awful silence fell upon the people 
as they stood to witness the death of their prophet. 
It was broken by a harsh voice which shouted in deri- 



350 SAVONAROLA. 

sion, " Now, prophet, is the moment to work a miracle." 
Others he saw with torches in their hands, ready to set 
fire to the pile which was to consume the bodies. It is 
said that his last words were : "O Florence ! what hast 
thou done to-day?" "He died," says Guicciardini, 
" convinced of his innocence and penetrated by the 
most lively feelings of charity. Sustained by hope, he 
suffered no loss of firmness and composure. No word 
escaped from him either of confession or protestation." 
It was the 23d of May, the vigil of the Ascension, 1498, 
about ten o'clock in the forenoon; and he was now 
forty-five years of age. 

The executioner, thinking to please the mob, began 
to act the buffoon over the dead body as it swung from 
the beam, and in doing so very nearly fell off the 
scaffold. Exclamations of horror broke from the by- 
standers, and the magistrates sent him a severe reproof. 
Some tried to kindle the pile so that the flames might 
reach the body before life was extinct ; but he had 
died. One man shouted as he applied his torch, " I am 
at last able to burn the man who would have liked to 
burn me." As the flames arose, the wind blew them 
aside ; and the excited people, ready for any prodigy, 
exclaimed, " A miracle ! a miracle ! " and many fled 
across the Piazza. But the wind fell, and the flames soon 
consumed the cords which bound his arms. His right 
hand and arm, raised by the action of the fire, seemed 
to the eyes of his adherents as though lifted up to bless 
the people that had murdered him. Some of them 
knelt down on the ground, regardless of the place and 
the beholders. His enemies took no less part in the 
scene. Showers of stones were thrown at the burning 
bodies, and pieces were struck off and scattered over 



MARTYRDOM. 35 1 

the Piazza. A child picked up one of Savonarola's fingers 
and carried it home to its mother. The bodies were 
conveyed in carts and cast into the Arno ; but frag- 
ments which fell out by the way were gathered up and 
preserved as relics. Pico della Mirandola tells us that he 
secured a portion of the heart of the Frate, which had 
been recovered from the river. It was believed that 
miracles were wrought by means of these relics. 

History tells us of the miseries which were in store 
for Florence in the future. The bitterest enemies of 
the Frate knew their error too late, when they were 
forced to make common cause with the Piagnoni against 
the tyrants who sought to bring them under their 
former bondage. The excellence of Savonarola's policy 
has been acknowledged, not by mere partisans, but by 
historians who had little sympathy with his prophecies 
or with his religious reform. The ruui of Florence was 
the result of the restoration of the Medici, and from 
that time it has never recovered its ancient position in 
Italy and in Europe. Some of the causes which led to 
the failure of the work of Savonarola we have endeav- 
ored to indicate. Of the man himself, of his intellectual 
and moral greatness, of his simpUcity and godly sin- 
cerity, of the nobility of his aims and the sanctity of his 
life, none will doubt who carefully and candidly consider 
the testimony of his words and deeds. If there are any 
who will still bring against him the mere vulgar charges 
of fanaticism, or even of imposture, we can only say, 
"Wisdom is justified of her own children." 

" From his early 3'outh to the day in which he was led 
forth to die on the gallows," says the Padre Marchese, " he 
was always equal to himself in the innocence of his life, 
in the love of truth, in his charity towards the human 



rje2 SAVONAROLA. '""t^/ri <2 

race. It must be confessed that if perchance he erred 
in the selection of the means which he adopted in order 
to attain his ends, he had not for his object, as some 
assert, an ambition for worldly power, or any less noble 
end, but only the elevation of that most degraded gen- 
eration of the fourteenth ^ century to the sublime per- 
fection of Christianity."^ 

1 As we should say, fifteenth. r 

2 Avvertimento to the Lettere Inedite of Savonarolain Archi- 
vio Istorico. 



THE END. 



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